The Mystery of St Bartholomews

The history of our bonnie town upon the hill centres round the old church – one of the most striking buildings in Colne. It stands high on the summit of the same hill it was built on, 900 years ago. On the north side of the old church, a grand view can be seen of Pendle Hill, the sight that watches over Colne, each day and night.

Colne historian, Geoff Crambie was christened at St Bartholomew’s Parish Church in 1943, and married his wife Ruth there in 1968, a church close to his heart. “The oldest portion of St Bart’s were fixed by unseen hands, the story runs that the site originally was fixed upon Church Clough up Lenches Road in 1122, where the infamous bomb was dropped in 1941 after a German plane flew over and tried to attack a farmer on the field below him!” Geoff explained.

Allegedly, stones were used to build walls there, masons set to work and foundations were laid and built upon. To the surprise of the masons, it was discovered that every stone put on by day,
disappeared during the night. Still to this day, nobody knows who did it, but the masons would find the stones at the present site at the top of Colne, carefully and skilfully laid together at this beautiful house of faith.

“Lower became the walls at Church Clough and higher they grew at Colne; the bricks were being stolen, the old site became abandoned and the Parish Church just grew! If it had been built up at Church Clough, it would have been hard to get there, it’s not easy to get up!” said Geoff.

The church was dedicated to St Bartholomew, and was founded by Robert De Lacy who came to Colne in the reign of King William I. Three Norman pillars that still remain are genuine from the original church built all the way back in 1122.

“ISAAC DID EVERYTHING FOR OVER 50 YEARS, HE RANG THAT BELL FOR A LONG TIME, AND HE CERTAINLY LOOKED AFTER THE CHURCH”

Part of the building was restored in 1515, and the 62-foot-high tower rebuilt. “There’s an eye of God on the side of the church, for the Lord to look down on the congregation. It’s just on the outside wall on the left.”

“Lots of things happened round the parish church in the 17th century, there were lots of auctions at the church, and in 1641, a man put his wife up for auction. She was sold for half a crown!” exclaimed Geoff.

Some rougher amusement was indulged in, wrestling matches were popular and in 1815, one of these matches ended fatally to one of the wrestlers in consequence of his head coming into contact with the sharp edge of the tombstone!

“Not many people know about the little door at the side of the church, and the stories about little Isaac Butler. He was four foot and nine inches. He helped at the church from the 1870s to the 1920s.

Isaac was a sexton, the bell ringer, the care taker and the organ blower! The church actually built a smaller door for him in 1975, and the door still stands there to this day.”
said Geoff.

“Isaac did everything for over 50 years, he rang that bell for a long time, and he certainly looked after the church. Very few people remember him now, but he was the fabric of Colne for all those years. There’s only one photograph in the world of him.”

Still, you can find very early gravestones along the front of the church, even one from the 1500s, 500 years ago! There’s also a Charnel house, they called it a paupers’ grave, its purpose was to bury people who could not afford gravestone, there’s about 5,000 people buried under there, can you believe it?

Outside the right-hand side of the church, stands a Calling Cross. If you look closely, you can see it was once broken in three, and placed back together. “This was originally in Laneshawbridge in the 1400s, when the soldiers went off to war, they would pray around this before. They brought it from Emmott Hall after the building was destroyed in 1969, but it cracked into three pieces” explained Geoff.

“Wilfred Spencer brought it to these Parish grounds, and they stuck it together with araldite. It’s been stuck together ever since!” Geoff pulled out an old photo, “Here we see Wilfred and Helen Spencer’s excellent Christmas card for the year 1970. This classic church scene dates back to 1865 and shows the original church yard before Church Street was widened out by nine feet in the year 1890. On the left, the North Gate Cottages stand, but were sadly demolished in the 1880s to make way for the Colne Co-op’s Royal Arcade.”

Throughout the years there has been many photos and drawings taken of the church, around the church, there is also an original charcoal drawing by Frank R. Bineham, it was sketched from the top of the 62-foothigh Parish Church tower and depicts a view of Church Street in 1952.

As you drive up the main road of Colne, you cannot miss St Bartholomew’s with its archaic yet glorious architecture and well-kept gardens. Especially when we’re sat in the Colne Life HQ and can hear the peal of wedding bells on someone’s special day at the well-loved church on the hill.

ColneLife Winter 2022