Daily prayers in the Kingdom Season with USPG: (20) 24 November 2023

Colossus Way in Bletchley recalls the giant computers at Bletchley Park … where did Saint Paul’s Colossae get its name? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In this time between All Saints’ Day and Advent Sunday, we are in the Kingdom Season in the Calendar of the Church of England. This week began with the Second Sunday before Advent (19 November 2023).

Throughout this week, I am reflecting on the seven churches in cities or places that give their names to the titles of nine letters or epistles by Saint Paul: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessaloniki.

My reflections this morning follow this pattern:

1, A reflection on a Pauline church;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Harbour of Rhodes … the medieval poet Manuel Philes linked the name of Colossae with the Colossus of Rhodes (Photograph: RGH Travel)

Saint Paul’s Colossae:

Colossus was a set of computers at Bletchley Park developed by British codebreakers in 1943-1945. They were the world’s first electronic computer with a single purpose: to help decipher the Lorenz-encrypted (Tunny) messages between Hitler and his generals during World War II. The first computer was immediately dubbed ‘Colossus’ by the staff at Bletchley Park due to its immense proportions.

The Colossus of Rhodes (Κολοσσός της Ρόδου) was a colossal statue of the Greek sun god Helios that bestraddled the harbour of Rhodes and it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Colosseum in Rome may have taken its name from a colossal statue of Nero on the model of the Colossus of Rhodes.

When I was on Colossus Way in Bletchley earlier this month, I wondered where the city of Colossae, which gives its name to one of Saint Paul’s letters, derived its name from. The medieval poet Manuel Philes, incorrectly, connected the name ‘Colossae’ with the Colossus of Rhodes. More recently, the name has been connected to the idea of setting up a sacred space or shrine. Another proposal relates the name to the Greek κολάζω (kolazo), ‘to punish,’ while others suggest the name derives from the manufacture there of a dyed wool known as colossinus.

The Apostle Paul wrote 14 of the 27 books the New Testament. He founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the mid-50s AD, and wrote letters to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessaloniki. The Letter to the Colossians is the twelfth book in the New Testament.

The Letter to the Colossians is addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea, which is named in the Book of Revelation, and about 160 km (100 miles) from Ephesus in Asia Minor, which is also named in the Book of Revelation and which also received a letter from Saint Paul.

Colossae (Κολοσσαί) was an ancient city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, and one of the most celebrated cities of southern Anatolia (modern Turkey). Colossae was 15 km (9.3 mi) south-east of Laodicea on the road through the Lycus Valley near the Lycus River at the foot of Mount Cadmus, the highest mountain in Turkey’s western Aegean Region, and between the cities of Sardeis and Celaenae, and south-east of the ancient city of Hierapolis and Pamukkale.

The first mention of the city may be in a 17th-century BCE Hittite inscription, which refers to a city called Huwalušija, which some archaeologists believe is a reference to early Colossae.

Colossae was significant city from the 5th century BCE. At Colossae, Herodotus describes how, ‘the river Lycos falls into an opening of the earth and disappears from view, and then after an interval of about five furlongs it comes up to view again, and this river also flows into the Maiander.’

The geographer Herodotus is the first to refer to Colossae by name in the fifth century BCE. He says it was a ‘great city in Phrygia’ that accommodates the Persian king Xerxes I when he was on his way to wage war against the Greeks in the Greco-Persian Wars. By then the city had reached a certain level of wealth and size. Writing in the 5th century BCE, Xenophon described Colossae as ‘a populous city, wealthy and of considerable magnitude.’

Colossae was famous for its wool trade. According to Strabo, the city earned great revenue from the flocks and the wool of Colossae gave its name to the colour colossinus.

The rebellious Persian satrap Tissaphernes was executed in Colossae In 396 BCE, when he was lured there and slain on the command of Cyrus the Younger.

The city continued to enjoy commercial prosperity during the Hellenistic period. But it had dwindled greatly in size and in importance by the time of Saint Paul, when it was known for a local angel cult.

Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians points to the existence of an early Christian community. It may have been written in the 60s, while he was in prison. Colossians could have been written in Rome during his first imprisonment, at about the same time he wrote his letters to Philemon and Ephesians, as all three letters were sent with Tychicus and Onesimus. Other scholars, however, suggest it was written in Caesarea or Ephesus.

Colossae was known for its fusion of religious ideas and practices, including Jewish, Gnostic and pagan strands, in what was described in the first century CE as an angel cult. This unorthodox cult venerated the Archangel Michael, said to have caused a curative spring to gush from a fissure in the earth. Saint Theodoret of Cyrrhus said these cults survived in Phrygia during the fourth century.

Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians addresses the challenges the Christians in Colossae faced in the context of syncretistic Gnostic religions that were developing in Asia Minor. According to the letter, Epaphras seems to have been a person of some importance in the Christian community in Colossae, and tradition presents him as its first bishop. The epistle also seems to imply that Sain Paul had never visited the city, because it only speaks of him having ‘heard’ of the Colossians’ faith.

In his Letter to Philemon, Saint Paul speaks of his hope to visit Colossae after he is freed from prison. Tradition also names Philemon as the second bishop of Colossae. The first historically documented bishop is Epiphanius, who did not attend the Council of Chalcedon. Thee metropolitan bishop Nunechius of Laodicea, the capital of the Roman province of Phrygia Pacatiana, signed the decrees of Chalcedon on his behalf.

Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis were destroyed by an earthquake in the 64 CE, and Colossae was rebuilt independent of the support of Rome. Colossae was part of the Roman and Byzantine province of Phrygia Pacatiana. The city’s fame and status continued into the Byzantine period, and in 858 CE, it was a Metropolitan See. The Byzantines also built the church of Saint Michael in the vicinity of Colossae, one of the largest church buildings in the region.

The town may have been abandoned when Arab invasions forced the population to resettle nearby in Chonae (Chonai), modern-day Honaz. Colossae’s famous church was destroyed in 1192-1193, during the Byzantine civil wars. Chonae was the birthplace of the Byzantine Greek writers Nicetas and Michael Choniates, and it was ruled by Manuel Maurozomes in 1206-1230.

What remains of the buried ruins of Colossae (‘the mound’) is 3 km north of Honaz. The site has never been fully excavated. Instead, most archaeological attention has been focused on nearby Laodicea and Hierapolis. The site extends to 8.8 ha (22 acres), and includes a biconical acropolis almost 30 metres (100 ft) high.

A theatre on the eastern slope could seat around 5,000 people, suggesting the city had a population of 25,000 to 30,000 people during the Roman period. A necropolis has Hellenistic tombs. The remains of sections of columns may have marked a processional way, or the cardo or main street in the city. The remains of one column mark the supposed location of a church once stood, possibly that of Saint Michael.

In this letter, Paul condemns the false teachings circulating in Colossae. He insists that angel worship, ‘secret’ knowledge and asceticism have no place in Christian belief, and he repeats his teaching that Gentile believers do not need to adopt Jewish religious laws or be circumcised.

Saint Paul constantly tells his readers that the whole law is summed up in one single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Galatians 5: 5). On more than one occasion, he summarises the Christian message in this way. In the Letter to the Galatians, for example, he says: ‘The only thing that counts is faith working through love’ (Galatians 5: 6). Then he writes, ‘For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”.’ (Galatians 5: 14).

In the Letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul writes: ‘Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in harmony’ (Colossians 3: 14).

The Colosseum in Rome … Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians may have been written in the 60s while he was a prisoner in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 19: 45-48 (NRSVA):

45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46 and he said, ‘It is written,

“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
but you have made it a den of robbers.’

47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

The remains of the ancient city of Colossae (Photograph: A. Savin / Wikipedia / FAL)

Today’s Prayers (Friday 24 November 2023):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’. This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (24 November 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

Give thanks for the lives and work of women throughout the world. Pray for an end to gender inequality.

The Collect:

Heavenly Father,
whose blessed Son was revealed
to destroy the works of the devil
and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:
grant that we, having this hope,
may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
that when he shall appear in power and great glory
we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom;
where he is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Gracious Lord,
in this holy sacrament you give substance to our hope:
bring us at the last
to that fullness of life for which we long;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Yesterday’s Reflection (Philippi)

Continued Tomorrow (Thessaloniki)

The site of Colossae has never been fully excavated

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

What remains of the buried ruins of Colossae (‘the mound’), 3 km north of Honaz

Berkhamsted’s buildings reflect the history and legacy of an old market and coaching inn town

The Town Hall on Berkhamsted High Street, with its distinctive façade, was built by a charitable trust in 1859 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Berkhamsted is an old market and coaching inn town on Akeman Street, the old Roman road that linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near modern St Albans) with the Fosse Way at Corinium Dobunnorum, now Cirencester.

This road running east-west across southern England is about 117 km (73 mi) long and the route may have been an older track, upgraded by the Romans. Its runs through Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury, Alchester, Stonesfield, Chesterton, Kirtlington, Ramsden and Asthall.

Akerman Street, the royal importance of Berkhamsted Castle, the wool trade and the later development of the Grand Union Canal and the railway from London , ensured the prosperity of the town throughout the middle ages and beyond.

The old coaching inns, each with a wide opening by the side leading to former stables at the rear, are reminders of the day when Berkhamsted was once a major staging post for coaches on their way to and from London.

The architectural legacy of the town, alongside the churches and castle ruins, includes the Victorian town hall, a Caroline almshouse, half-timbered Tudor houses, and a High Street shop that some claim is the oldest shop in England – or, at least, the oldest extant jettied timber-framed building in England.

Curious and unique street names too survive from the 17th century, such as ‘Grab-All Row.’

The Swan, the Crown and the King’s Arms … three old coaching inns side-by-side on the High Street in Berkhamsted (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Town Hall on the High Street is an ornate neo-Gothic building with a distinctive façade. It was designed by the eccentric Victorian architect Edward Buckton Lamb, and was built by a charitable trust in 1859 to house a new market hall and the Mechanics’ Institute, and to provide a large public meeting room.

The Town Hall was extended in 1888-1890, and after years of neglect and dereliction was restored between 1982 and 1999. It now includes a restaurant facing onto the street and community facilities above, including space for weddings, public meetings and concerts.

The architect Edward Buckton Lamb (1806-1869), who designed the town hall, has been described as a ‘Rogue-Gothic Revivalist’ who ‘gloried in repetitive notchings and chamferings’. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described him as ‘the most original though certainly not the most accomplished architect of his day.’

Yet, Benjamin Disraeli chose him to remodel Hughenden Manor, and Lady Marion Alford, the mother of the young Earl Brownlow, chose Lamb to design the Town Hall in Berkhamsted.

The Market House replaced the Tudor Market House that had burnt down in 1854. The freehold of the old market house was owned by the Duchy of Cornwall but leased to Earl Brownlow, who received all the market rents.

The Duchy agreed to release Brownlow from his obligation to rebuild the burnt-out building provided he gave at least £500 towards the new Market House. Brownlow also had to hand over the market rents to the Town Hall Trust for 99 years, after which the rents would revert to the Duchy of Cornwall. Brownlow bought the freehold of the market rights from the Duchy in 1863.

From 1859 and until well into the 20th century, it was known as the Market House and Town Hall. The front part of the building was used for trading and to store market stalls. The first floor was used by the Berkhamsted Mechanics’ Institute, with a library, museum, card room and billiard room. The garden was first created in 1890.

The Town Hall Trust bought the freehold from the Brownlow estate 100 years ago in 1923, ensuring that the trust would receive the market rents in perpetuity.

But by the 1970s the town hall had been closed, partly because it failed to comply with fire regulations, partly because the income it generated was insufficient to maintain the building. It was neglected and derelict and as a major dispute dragged on for over six years it was threatened with demolition.

As the corporate trustee, the council was advised that the building was beyond economic repair. It decided to build a new hall behind the High Street façade, but its efforts were frustrated, at first because of a defect in the title, and later by a moratorium on local government capital spending. Meanwhile, the building continued to deteriorate and became the victim of vandalism.

In desperation, the council tried to sell the building, but the Charity Commission refused permission because of local objectors. The Rescue and Action Group included three local schoolboys, and the objectors were supported by well-known Berkhamsted personalities, including the author Graham Greene, the broadcaster Richard Mabey and the composer Antony Hopkins.

The town clerk advised the council that it no longer bore responsibility for the town hall. A new trust was established in 1979, and the town hall was restored between 1982 and 1999. The ground floor was converted into a shopping arcade in 1983, and was officially opened by the actor Bernard Miles (Lord Miles), one of the trust’s patrons, on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 1983.

The arcade prospered throughout the 1980s until shopping patterns changed. The ground floor arcade has since become a restaurant, and is now Prime Steak and Grill.

No 173 High Street is regarded as the oldest extant jettied timber-framed building in England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Across the street from the Town Hall, No 173 High Street is considered to be the oldest extant jettied timber-framed building in England. It has been dated by dendrochronology of the structural timbers to between 1277 and 1297, when Berkhamsted was a large, prosperous wool trading market town.

The building was given a Victorian façade and was used as a pharmacy in the 19th century. But its historical significance was not recognised until 2001, after the mediaeval timber framing was exposed during renovation work.

Investigations suggest it has always been a shop, with evidence of an early jeweller’s or goldsmith’s shop with a workshop behind. Newspaper headlines at the time claimed England’s ‘oldest shop’ had been discovered. The age of the building makes it a contender for the title, but there is doubt about how long it served as a shop. It is now believed to have originally been a jettied service wing to a larger aisled hall house that has since disappeared.

The building has received grants from English Heritage. It is now Grade II* listed and is the premises of Sterling estate agents.

The Tudor Court House is a fine example of a 16th century timber-framed building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The pretty Tudor Court House beside Saint Peter’s Church dates from the 16th century and is now the parish hall. It is a fine example of an English timber-framed building of red brick and knapped flint with a jettied wooden first floor.

The present building is Tudor in origin but may have been built on the site of an earlier, mediaeval building. It has also been known in the past as the Church House and the Town Hall.

The Court House was originally used as the courts of the Manor of Berkhamsted and today serves as the church hall for Saint Peter’s. It could be considered as the town’s first town hall as the town council, created by a royal charter from by James I in 1618, first met there.

The corporation included a Bailiff or Mayor and 12 chief burgesses, and fell into abeyance in the 1660s.

The Court House had a variety of uses over the years. It was a school from 1838 until the 1870s, and then a court house. Meanwhile, Lord Brownlow bought the Manor and Honour of Berkhamsted, with the exception of the castle, from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1863. This included ownership of the Court House, which was leased back to trustees at a nominal rent.

During World War I, the Court House was used as an orderly room. During the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918, it was used as an extension hospital. During World War II, it was used as a school once again to cope with the surge in school children among the war-time evacuees.

Today, the Court House is the church hall for Saint Peter’s parish.

Dean Incent’s House was described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘the best house in Berkhamsted’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Across the street from Saint Peter’s Church on the High Street, Dean Incent’s House is a timber-framed building. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described it as ‘the best house in Berkhamsted.’ It dates from the late 15th century and is the birthplace of John Incent (1480-1545), who was the Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, from 1540 to 1545.

Evidence suggests an older mediaeval building stood to the rear of the house, at right angles to the High Street. Part of this older house was incorporated into the Tudor house which was built facing the High Street.

The house belonged to Robert and Katherine Incent in the late 15th century. Robert Incent was secretary to Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, the last royal resident at Berkhamsted Castle, wife of the Duke of York and mother of two kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III.

John Incent was a chaplain to Henry VIII during Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and the king appointed Incent Dean of Saint Paul’s in 1540. He founded Dean Incent’s Free School in Berkhamsted in 1541, using land he appropriated from the monastic hospital of Saint John the Baptist during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The school is today’s Berkhamsted School.

Dean Incent’s House was a traditional tearoom and restaurant from 1930 until 1970, and it was listed in 1950. Later it was used to house schoolmasters at Berkhamsted School. The interior has original exposed timber framing. David Sherratt, one of the resident schoolmasters, uncovered extensive remains of wall paintings in the house in the 1970s. These paintings are thought to date from the late Tudor or early Jacobean era.

The house is now a private dwelling and is not normally open to the public.

The Sayer Almshouses date from 1684 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

At the west end of the High Street, the Sayer Almshouses, on the corner of Cowper Road, were given to the town by John Sayer, a prominent local resident.

John Sayer was Charles II’s chief cook and a friend of Samuel Pepys. A plaque on the façade of the almshouses bears his name, his coat of arms and the date 1684.

The Berkhamsted coat-of-arms decorate the façade of the Town Hall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)