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There are strong echoes of the famous octagon of nearby Ely Cathedral in the silhouette of St Andrew's, proudly set on its ridge and visible for miles across the Fens.

The original parish church was situated to the south of the present building and went into ruins in the early 1800s. By 1816 a brick shed on the site had been converted for use as a mortuary chapel. When the graveyard was enlarged in 1871 this building was replaced by the small brick building which we see today.

A church has stood here since Saxon times. After the Norman Conquest of 1066 it belonged to Battle Abbey in Sussex, then the Priory of St Nicholas Exeter who were the Patrons until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. The town dates back to the Roman period, there was a fort on the hill above the town and occupation in the centre. ‘Columtune' was also mentioned in Alfred the Great's will in 872 AD.

St Andrew's church stands on high ground beside the thatched 14th century parsonage, the first property purchased by the National Trust. The church itself dates to around 1370, a strangely late date for this part of Sussex. It stands beside the Tye, a large green that may have served as a market in medieval times. In 1399 the church was granted to Michelham Priory.

Ashby Puerorum, Ashby 'of the boys', is so called because in the late thirteenth century the living was appropriated to provide an endowment for the boy choristers of Lincoln Cathedral. Ashby is a remote hamlet and its medieval church of St Andrew is approached across a farmyard. The churchyard affords fabulous views across the Wolds.

Beautifully set in a pretty, rambling, village, and with an early 16th century priests' house next door, St Andrew's is an exceptionally attractive church, and has one of only three medieval spires to be found in Dorset.

There are a number of indications that the site of the church is very old. The churchyard has a distinct curve to it perhaps following the shape of an underlying moat and ancient meeting place. An ancient Yew tree reckoned to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old also stands in the churchyard.

The church of St Andrew is situated in the centre of the village on a hill top opposite the Swan Inn. The church was consecrated in 630 and still retains many Saxon and later Norman elements. Nikolaus Pevsner called it 'a church of considerable archaeological fascination'. The parish church has been an important part of village life since these times and is still in use for regular worship to which all are visitors are very welcome.

Hagbourne parish church was built, or rebuilt, at the beginning of the 12th century, and consisted then of a nave and chancel. Only a few walls remain from this time.

In the 1930s Arthur Mee wrote a series of guides to Britain called The King's England and whilst researching for this work he realised that there were very few communities that had not suffered military fatalities in the First World War. He coined the term ‘Thankful villages' to describe them. Minting is one such village.