The Parish of Holy Trinity with St Columba, Fareham

The History Of St Columba Church, Fareham

Based on the 1991 Centenary leaflet with later additions and updating

Background

Fareham was just a small Saxon settlement when St Birinus landed here in 634 AD. He had been commissioned by the Pope in Rome to bring the Christian religion to England, and his followers founded the parish Church of St Peter & St Paul.

St Augustine had landed in Kent on a similar mission 38 years previously, while St Columba had landed on the island of lona, off the West Coast of Scotland in 563 AD, with the primary purpose of converting the Picts on the mainland of Scotland to Christianity with the help of his twelve disciples. Columba had previously founded monasteries in Ireland, where he was a member of the loyal family, and by the time he died in June 597, at the age of 76, having spent the last 34 years of his life in Scotland; he had established missions over large areas.

Records show that Catisfield existed as a settlement in 1216. It may have split off from the Manor of Fareham by the early C16.

The population of Fareham in 1830 was 3,677, only slightly larger than Titchfield. The town was expanding westwards, away from the old High Street, and the parish church of St Peter and St Paul was no longer able to serve the needs of the whole town. It was decided to build a new church in West Street, and in 1834, Sir Henry Thompson, who was previously a curate at St Peter & St Paul, built Holy Trinity church. In 1846, Holy Trinity became a separate parish.

The Parish of Holy Trinity covered a much larger area than its neighbour St Peter & Paul. As St Peter & Paul retained responsibility for the outlying area it was able to create a daughter church (St Francis) at Funtley to serve that community. The church at Funtley was built by Sir Henry Thompson, (the first vicar of Holy Trinity), and at first was a combined junior school and church.

In Victorian times the local population was expanding rapidly, and things were changing quite fast. The 109 acres of Catisfield Common were enclosed and sold off, and several large new houses appeared. Catisfield at this time was a hamlet of large houses and cottages with a shop, separated from Fareham by farmland, but standing by the side of the important Southampton Road (now the A27).

The First St Columba Church

The original St Columba church was the "old tin tabernacle" in Catisfield Lane. Designed as a mission church to serve the outlying parts of the parish, it was built by Captain William Thresher, a retired naval officer, who was previously a Churchwarden at Holy Trinity church. It was constructed in 1891 on land which came from The Limes estate.

The church was a daughter church to Holy Trinity and had three local Trustees, Rev. Charles Lowther Arnold (Vicar of Holy Trinity), Captain William Thresher (known as Father Christmas in Catisfield) and Mrs Matthias of Catisfield Lodge.

This is the background to the building of the new St Columba church in 1891. As "tin tabernacles" go, it was quite substantial. The external cladding of corrugated iron had a wooden lining, there were arched lancet windows and a small wooden spire over its bell tower.

It had a harmonium and a choir, originally of boys, but men and women joined the choir later, and an organ was fitted in 1948. There was some rivalry in the early days between the boys choir of St Columba and Holy Trinity, which led on one occasion to a threatened strike over a rumour (which proved unfounded) of Easter eggs to be given only to the Trinity boys. The church received many gifts, including an oak chair from Rev. Arnold in 1924, a priest's desk from Rev. Spencer in 1925 (see St Columba clergy), and a stained glass window in memory of Mrs Napier of Catisfield Cottage, as well as many smaller items from members of the congregation.

Contemporary photographs show an attractive and well cared for church. The Sunday school flourished, at first in a hut in Catisfield Lodge grounds, then in the church and the first Catisfield Memorial Hall opened in 1948. By 1960, there were also Sunday Schools in Fareham Park School and the W.I. hut in Oak Road to cater for the children on the new estates. By 1965, the Sunday school was 250 strong, but meeting space was difficult to arrange.

"The Guild" held services in the church from 1942 to 1945,and this was the forerunner of the Catisfield Ladies Guild, closely linked to the church in its early years. In the 1950's the Church flourished. It was painted green in 1956, and 6 horse chestnut trees in front of the church were removed. A weathervane, presented by HMS Collingwood was installed in 1957, to replace the old wooden spire. Garden Fetes, once held in (the grounds of the big houses, were held in the Memorial Hall grounds until replaced by "planned giving" in 1959. A flower show at the last Fete led to the formation of the Catisfield and District Horticultural Society.

Celebration of the Patronal Festival is first recorded in 1955. Christmas, Easter and Harvest celebrations were regularly held at this time and were well supported.

By the end of the 1950's it was felt that the site of the old tin tabernacle was inappropriate as it was small and at the western edge of the parish. It could not cope with the new housing estates, which were developing further east, both north and south of Highlands Road. The old church subsequently became a youth club for several years until the owners closed it prior to demolition.

The picture shows the rear of the old mission church exterior shortly before its demolition.

The original mission church in Catisfield Lane was in use from 1894 up to 1963 when it became redundant with the building of a modern church on the corner of Hillson Drive.

A site was obtained at the junction of Hillson Drive and Highlands Road. The old church still received gifts, including a processional cross, and many people did not want to move. The congregation was assured that the old building would be re-erected as a private school chapel, but this did not happen.

The present St Columba building was built during 1962 and dedicated in February 1963. It celebrated it's 40th anniversary in June 2002. Our Parish is now looking to plan for the future by building a more modern church in its place.