St. Mark's was consecrated on 30th December 1845 by the Bishop of London, who, according to a paragraph in 'John Bull', preached on the text "The poor have the gospel preached to them" to a congregation of clergy, nobility and local gentry- and, no doubt, a number of the villagers.

A long way to church

Colney Heath had previously been part of the parish of St. Peter's, St. Albans, 4 miles away: a long journey for those churchgoing villagers who weren't inclined to join the recently opened Sleapshyde Methodist Chapel. In 1842 the vicar of St. Peter's, Revd. Horatio Nelson Dudding, sent out an appeal for funds to build a church in Colney Heath. He likened Colney Heath to a "Lazarus lying at our gates full of sores", and referred to the drunkenness, the illegitimate births, and the high-stakes gambling on cock-fights and prize-fights on the Common organised by the Gentlemen of St. Albans and Barnet.

Colney Heath had not been entirely neglected by St. Peter's. There were occasional Sunday afternoon services in the village and a Church School had opened in 1815.

A drawing (above left) accompanying Mr. Dudding's letter showed an elaborate Gothic design for the church, but the response to the appeal was only sufficient for a more modest design (above right), described by Pevsner as Transitional Norman with a staircase reminiscent of one at King's School, Canterbury. The architect seems to have been a Mr. Hugh Smith.

Keeping it simple

The 1840's were the time of the High Church 'Oxford Movement'. Mr. Dudding was sternly opposed to such goings on so the church interior was designed (possibly by his cousin, a City of London architect) to prevent the introduction of any 'Romish practices': no transepts, only a small apse for the altar, and, of course, no candles. Robert Gaussen of Brookman's Park gave the land (it had been known as Hunger Hills, suggesting it was not some of his best) and laid the foundation stone in March 1844. It was built by Joseph Bennett of St. Albans for £1,565, and the solitary bell was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

Mr. Dudding took further steps to keep out the Anglo-Catholics by ensuring that the patrons of the parish should be of like mind to himself. A later vicar, the Revd. Laurence Bomford, wrote that when he was appointed in 1898 the three trustees were "very extreme Protestants indeed".

The first vicar was Revd. George Frederick Williamson and there have been fourteen vicars in all up to the present.

The Glaseby windows

All the pictorial windows are by William Glaseby, a pupil of William Morris. The east window (left), of the Ascension of Christ, was installed in 1925 in memory of Revd. William Bailey (Vicar 1880-1898), his wife and their son. In the south wall is a window showing the Good Shepherd, in memory of the same son's wife. Over the vestry door, a third window (1931) shows the Archangel Michael and is in memory of Joshua Harmon East and his son Edmond James. The family lived in Highfield Hall; there is also an elaborate memorial in the churchyard.

William Bailey was followed as vicar by Revd. Laurence Bomford, who had previously been a professional landscape painter. He married the daughter of his painting tutor, Nathaniel Green, who is buried in the churchyard.

The clock

The clock in the tower was subscribed to in 1901 as a memorial to Nathaniel Green. A tablet in the church describes him as "Artist and Astronomer".

After a period of silence, the clock was restored to full working order in 2002 by David Collins, in memory of his mother Mary who had been a much-loved stalwart member of St Mark's.

The organ

The organ was built by W J Hewitt and installed in the gallery in 1887. It has been improved over the years, most recently by John Page in 1988, and it has a bright singing tone well suited to accompanying the congregation's worship. Nowadays, it is often used in ensemble with other instruments (piano, guitars, clarinet, flute, drums) playing at the front of the church. The distance between players is quite a challenge to the organist!

In 1951 the church was in financial difficulties, and when the vicar, Revd. G.W. Byers-Jones, retired the Bishop put Canon Brenchley, vicar of St. Paul's, St Albans, in charge of St. Mark's. In 1954 Revd. Ross M. Heard was made vicar but his health deteriorated and he resigned after four years. In 1958 Revd. 'Jo' Butland was appointed and the parish was enlarged by the transfer of the Roestock housing estate (built on the grounds of the former Roestock Hall), from North Mimms parish to Colney Heath.

Revd. David Veness followed in 1980, then Revd. Gareth Davies in 1999, before the arrival of the present vicar in 2001.

The vicarage

The original vicarage was built in 1847, but replaced by a new vicarage built in its grounds in 1973. For thirty years it served as the headquarters of the Christian youth organisation 'Campaigners', but it is once again a family home now.

The Church Centre and its predecessors

In the early years the village school seems to have been used for evening meetings. In 1882 a corrugated iron building (the "Iron Room") was erected alongside the church. This lasted until about 1960 when an asbestos building replaced it. This soon deteriorated and the present brick hall complex (the "Church Centre") was built, being opened in 1983.

Reordering

In 1986 the church was reordered. The space in front of the altar was cleared, raised and extended and new moveable communion rails were fitted. At the rear of the church the choir vestry was removed to increase the seating capacity and the pews banked up to give a better view towards the front of the church.

<1986    2005>

And so into the 21st century...

The church building has served us well for over 160 years, but awareness is growing of its shortcomings (not least to meet disability legislation) and the need to refurbish it, make it more flexible and inviting, and provide more space and facilities, if it is to serve well for the future. Society today has very different expectations of a public building from those of our Victorian forebears (and a very different relationship to the Church and the Christian faith too), and St Mark's has a sense of renewed calling to belong to and reach out to the neighbourhood for which it was built in the first place. History is still in the making.