St. Andrew’s, White Colne

 

Set in a tranquil, rural, farmland location, our church is small and very special. The churchyard, with its ancient yews and gravestones, is a lovely place to sit quietly on a warm day and enjoy the surroundings. To find St Andrew's, take the Bures Road from the main A1124. The spire will come into view as you come around some sharp bends on the road. The church is open during the week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Our church is believed to date back to the 12th century, when Benedictine monks from nearby Earls Colne Priory established a place of worship in the village. Services and teaching were conducted under the leadership of Brother William from the Priory, whose name heads the list of priests on display in the Chancel. He was followed by Herbert de Sancto Eadmunds in 1170 but there follows a long gap before Will Canfield in 1495 and then again until Will Adams in 1536, but from that time the church has been regularly serviced.

Shortly before Adams, the church became a curacy with the dissolution of Earls Colne Priory in 1534. During the time of Gamaliel Lagden in the early 1700s, the Archdeacon made his annual visit; after his sad observation, he reported that the church, chancel and churchyard were ruinous, all ornaments and utensils wanting and no services being performed therein and that it was just a shelter for cattle. It is thought a thorough effort was made in 1740 to put the church in order. In 1848 Revd George John Taylor arrived as curate, becoming vicar in 1867, and made substantial improvements to the church, rebuilding the tower, adding a vestry, new pews, and substantial internal alterations. The village also benefitted with a new school.