I think there is solid historical proof that the church existed in England, Wales and Ireland before the Roman Church (the denomination the Empire invented) did anything there. There were Christians and parishes of them before the RC denomination was even begun. In that sense, the church in England is older than the Roman Church and existed before the Roman Church did anything there...
It is the "Church of England" but there have always been churches that pre-date all that by centuries and churches not ever a part of the Anglican Communion (including some Catholic and Lutheran ones)...
Yes, eventually, the parishes in England (and later in Scotland and still later in Ireland) came under the thumb of the Roman Church. I don't think Albion has denied that. Perhaps he is simply stating a historical fact: the church existed there long before the Roman Church did anything there, before that denomination was even founded. That's seems undeniable to me...