Over the centuries the Parish Church of St Columa has been lovingly care for by generation of parishioners and its ancient stone bear witness to many political and structural changes. However, it is important to remember that the beautiful church is not a museum but a house of prayer, a place to worship the living God. It is the focus of delight and anticipation at baptisms, of joyful celebration at weddings and of sadness at funerals. But in all cases it is the place where villagers have always gathered to share key moment in their lives.

Weekly worship is at the heart of all that goes on in the church and Collingtree uses a variety of worship styles. These rang from the informality of Family Service to the timeless liturgy of Evensong. The children are not forgotten and have actives arranged such as Toddles and Tots, Sunday Club, Holiday Club and Youth Fellowship. Close links are also maintained with Collingtree Church of England Primary School and the two organise a Partnership Service at the beginning of each year.

The last words of St Columba were said to be “Be at peace with one another; be kind and love one another.” These words are taken very much to heart within the Church Family at Collingtree and regular social events add to the welcome and feeling of warmth. Three Parishes worship reminds us of our links with Milton Malsor and Courteenhall and once a year we join together in the Three Parishes Walk.

To Christians, at the heart of all our celebrations is the birth of Jesus Christ. We can look back over the centuries with a sense of thanksgiving to God for his faithfulness to us, even in bad times. The words quoted by King George VI in the dark days of 1939 are still relevant for us now:

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year. Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied, Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a know path.”

What’s in a name?

The village of Collingtree appears in the Doomsday Book as ‘Colentrev’ and this helps us to explain how the village got its name. The Church is dedicated to St Columba, sometimes know as St Columb and the suffix ‘trev’ is the Celtic word for town. So the village was called ‘Colum trev’ – the town or place of St Columb.

The Church history…

The present church dates back to the time of the Norman conquest but we are fairly sure that prior to this there was a timber Saxon structure on the site and some evidence of Saxon rubble and stonework still exists. Over the years St Columba’s has been extensively renewed, rebuilt and restored and must look far different from the structure first erected around 1170 when Thomas a’ Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury.

Norman 1100-1200 AD

The original church comprised the two eastern bays of the nave. Its corner can be seen from outside. The chancel was soon added and the naïve widened to include two aisles. One of the supporting pillars has a square abacus (base) denoting Norman origin. The arch over the south door (on the outside) was almost certainly semi-circular and therefore likely to be of the same period.

Early English 1200-1300 AD

A further bay was added to lengthen the nave with pillars now having circular bases. The low Norman walls were heightened.

Decorated 1300-1350 AD

During this period the nave attained its present length and the construction of the Tower was started. Other features from this period include; the Sedilia – the stone seats where the clergy sat in the intervals during mass. The Sedilia is surmounted by Ogee arches (S shaped curved mouldings) and is evidence of the dominance of the Roman Catholic faith at this time. The west window being characteristic of this style.

Perpendicular 1350-1500 AD

The Medieval church was completed during this period and the east and north chancel windows were inserted together with those of the south aisle. The tower was also completed with doors and windows being characteristic of this style.

Later Additions

As far as we can tell the clerestory (upper story) windows are 16^th or possibly 17^th century.

Modern Developments

The north aisle was removed in 1808 as it was falling down and the money was not available to replace it. The arches were filled in with larger windows and these were themselves replaced with new smaller windows in the mid 19^th century. Again, in the early 1800’s, a gallery was erected at the west end of the nave for a choir of singers and a band. This was also removed in the middle of the 19^th century and a harmonium took the place of the band. The present organ chamber and vestry were built in 1891. The clock was also installed in 1891.

The Church Bells

There are five bells. The treble and second were first made in 1621 by James Keene of Woodstock. The Third was made by Robert Newcombe, Mayor of Leicester in 1550. The firth bell made by Hnery Jordan in 1740 has been recast. The firth tenor bell, some 12cwt, was given by the Sears family in 1915 and made by Taylor and Co of Loughbroough. At the same time as this gift the three earliest bells were recast and all were rehung with a new chiming mechanism. The rehung bells were not then rung until Armistice Day at the end of the First World War in 1918.