St James the Less and St Helen Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, Essex, England. It was built in 1837 and designed by Joseph John Scoles. It is situated on Priory Street between the junction with East Hill and St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in the city centre. Next to it is the church hall which was built in 1911 and designed by Alexander Scoles.Colchester - St James the Less and St Helen
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, retrieved 23 January 2016

History

Foundation

At the end of the eighteenth century, the Roman Catholic community in Colchester consisted of exiles from the French Revolution. In the early nineteenth century Irish Catholic soldiers were stationed in the town. In 1814, a French priest, Fr Amand Benard, served the community and the local garrison. In 1831, a building was provided for the local Catholic community near North Hill. It was given by William Dearn, a former soldier and local tradesman. A priest would come from

Witham Witham () is a town and civil parish in the Braintree district, in the county of Essex, England. In the 2011 census, it had a population of 25,353. It is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands on the Roman road between the ...

to say

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

there.

Construction

The site for the present church was donated by James Hoy, a farmer from Stoke-by-Nayland. The church mission there was funded by Alfred Stourton, 23rd Baron Mowbray. On 3 March 1837, the foundation stone for the church was laid by the

Vicar Apostolic of the London District The Apostolic Vicariate of the London District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1688 and was dissolved ...

, Thomas Griffiths. Construction of the church cost £2,750 in total. The architect was Joseph John Scoles. He designed the church in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style reminiscent of the nearby ruins of

St Botolph's Priory St. Botolph's Priory was a medieval house of Augustinian canons in Colchester, Essex, founded c. 1093. The priory had the distinction of being the first and leading Augustinian convent in England until its dissolution in 1536.Ashdown-Hill, Joh ...

. Scoles later used a similar plan when he designed St John the Evangelist Church in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

four years later. The church was originally dedicated to Saint James the Greater. Also it had no external statues or images, to lessen any hostility from the local non-Catholic community.

Developments

In 1900, the church was renamed as St James the Less so as to avoid confusion with the nearby Anglican St James the Great Church on East Hill. Two years later, in 1902, the church name was again changed, to St James the Less and St Helen. Saint Helen was reported to have been born in Colchester by local historical accounts.Roman Catholicism
in ''A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9, the Borough of Colchester'' from ''

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...

'' (London: Victoria County History, 1994), 338-339. In the 1850s, during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

the civilians in the congregation were outnumbered by the locally garrisoned Catholic soldiers. In 1865, a separate

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

was appointed to Colchester. In 1867 the chaplain used the camp chapel in Military Road. In 1904, St James' Church again became the garrison's centre for worship. In 1954, a garrison church was built in the

Colchester Garrison Colchester Garrison is a major garrison located in Colchester in the county of Essex, eastern England. It has been an important military base since the Roman Britain, Roman era. The first permanent military garrison in Colchester was establishe ...

. This closed in the 1980s. Since then, Masses for the army families have been said at St John the Baptist Church in the Shrub End part of the town, which is served from St Teresa of Lisieux Church in Lexden.St Teresa of Lisieux Parish
retrieved 23 January 2016 In 1891, a community

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

moved into the parish from Brentwood. In 1896, they built a school next door.

Extensions

In 1861, to make more space for the soldiers in the increasing number in the congregation, the church organ was removed from the church gallery. From 1902 to 1932, the

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

was a Canon Bloomfield, who oversaw the enlargement of the church. In 1904 the north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

and

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

were added. In 1907 the south aisle was added. The architect for these additions to the church was Charles Edward Butcher. They cost £2,000 and were paid for by Dean Lucas. In 1911 the church hall was built next door, with the architect being Canon Alexander Scoles, the son of Joseph John Scoles. It was opened by the

Archbishop of Westminster The archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

, Cardinal Francis Bourne. It was renamed as the Cardinal Bourne Institute. In 1975, the church was reordered. In 1987, stained-glass windows were added to the Blessed Sacrament chapel in the church. They were taken from a redundant church and were originally designed by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

Parish

The nearby churches in and around Colchester are served from St James' Church: St Cedd and St Gregory's Church in West Mersea, St Joseph's Church in Mile End and St Theodore of Canterbury Church in Monkwick. Each of these churches has one Sunday Mass: St Cedd and St Gregory Church at 8:30am, St Joseph's Church at 9:15am and St Theodore of Canterbury's Church at 10:15am. St James' Church has five Sunday Masses: 6:15pm on Saturday, as well as 8:00am, 10:30am, 2:00pm (in Polish) and 6:30pm on Sunday.

References

External links

*
St James the Less and St Helen Parish site

ColchesterChurches.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colchester, Saints James the Less and Helen Roman Catholic churches in Essex Romanesque Revival church buildings in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1837 Churches in Colchester (town) 1837 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom