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Churches: An Architectural Guide
This accessible book is for anyone who would like to understand more about the architectural history of English churches. Clear and easy to use, the text explains the key components of church architecture—stylistic developments, functional requirements, regional variations, and arcane vocabulary. Readers can equip themselves to explore historic churches knowledgeably, evaluate dates and restoration phases, interpret stained glass and monuments, and make their own discoveries. Written by one of the editors of the Pevsner Architectural Guides and distilling years of experience visiting churches, the book includes explanations of how to learn more from building plans, tips for further research, searching for clues, and analyzing the evidence.
- GenresArchitectureHistory
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2015
25 people want to read
About the author
Simon Bradley
53 books4 followersSimon Bradley is joint editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2023
Churches began as wooden timber structures. Then in 1066 English cathedral churches were rebuilt on a grander scale and in forms closer to the Romanesque manner.
Medieval church buildings tended to grow as the centuries passed. They were many reasons for this. As the centre of parish life, the church was a source of pride and prestige, and it attracted both collective and individual patronage. Rising populations required more spaces. Competition with neighboring parishes often also seems indicated, especially where grand towers and spires appear.
The Gothic style developed in France. In its fullest expression, it combined pointed arches, rib vaults and the diagonally slanting arches known as flying buttresses to create a new aesthetic of soaring volumes enclosed by structurally expressive, linear forms.
Medieval parish churches were thickly populated with images. Carvings of one kind of another could be applied to almost any structural part or furnishing, from fine statues to rough grosteques. Wall paintings have often been inadvertently protected under whitewash or plaster, so that fresh examples are still being uncovered. However, paintings are also prone to fade or flake away once exposed to light and air, and some recorded by earlier generations are now scarcely visible. Despite these losses, hundreds of wall paintings survive: enough to give a reasonable idea of the prevalent styles and subjects.
As to imagery, a Last Judgement was commonly applied to the wall above and around the chancel arch, sometimes with the Damned and the Saved depicted on opposing sides. Other saints may appear as single figures holding or wearing their identifying attributes, or in narrative scenes. Moralizing imagery of other kinds was common too: the Seven Deadly Sins, the Acts of Mercy, the Wheel of Fortune, the Archangel Michael weighing souls in the balance, or the group known as the Three Living and the Three Dead. Images of Christ's wounded body conveyed explicit warnings against swearing or breaking the Sabbath. Much medieval wall painting was much simpler, consisting of simple patterns, or limitations of more prestigious materials. Medieval stained glass likewise tends to survive only in a damaged or fragmentary state. Sometimes what bits and pieces remain have been gathered together and re-set in a single panel, collage-fashion.
Beginning in the 1530s under Henry VIII, the Church of England was transformed into a Protestant body, with the monarch rather than the pope as its supreme head. The consequences for parish life and church buildings were drastic. Prayers for the dead were abolished, cutting off in full flood the life of the guilds and chantries and making their chapels redundant. Prayers addressed through saints were done away with too, and most religious imagery fell into disfavour. Cult statues were destroyed and the great sculpted or painted Crucifixion groups over the rood screen were taken down. Especially vulnerable were representations of St. Mary the Virgin and of St. Thomas a Becket, a popular saint who was associated with the independence of the Church from royal power.
The loss of Medieval religious art is best understood instead as a long process of which the Reformation was only the first instalment. Fresh programmes of iconoclasm were launched in the 1640s-50s during the Civil War and Commonwealth; the journals of the zealous William Dowsing during this period give a detailed, church-by-church account of his team of deputies' progress through East Anglia, hunting down and 'cleansing' anything suggestive of Catholic belief and practice. But a great deal that survived such assaults gradually disappeared in later centuries, by accident or neglect more than by ideological attack. At a time when few people were interested in the material remains of the past, it was not easy to justify the cost of restoring damaged and draughty stained glass rather than installing plain new windows, or planning new church seating in such a way that an inconveniently placed medieval monument or screen could be retained. As writings and records by early antiquaries and topographers show, a great deal of old work that survived into the late centuries disappeared quietly under the generations that followed.
Most churches designed after the First World War are easily distinguished from those of the generations before. Building costs, already rising steeply in the years before 1914, were higher still when peace returned. Yet the demand for new churches held steady, especially for new suburbs and for the first giant council estates, so that new Anglican churches were consecrated at an average rate of one a month between the wars. The architecture that resulted tended to be leaner and sparer than that of the Edwardian years, and less dependent on costly displays of details from historical styles. Although a bell-tower of some sort remained a common Anglican denominator, grand towers with spires were much less often attempted, and more churches were designed from the outset with spirelets or bellcotes only. Architectural mouldings and details were commonly stylized or simplified, and churches depended more for effect on unadorned walls.
A pity of this book is that it touches only upon churches in England, so I disagree that this is an "architectural guide" of churches as the book title suggests.
Medieval church buildings tended to grow as the centuries passed. They were many reasons for this. As the centre of parish life, the church was a source of pride and prestige, and it attracted both collective and individual patronage. Rising populations required more spaces. Competition with neighboring parishes often also seems indicated, especially where grand towers and spires appear.
The Gothic style developed in France. In its fullest expression, it combined pointed arches, rib vaults and the diagonally slanting arches known as flying buttresses to create a new aesthetic of soaring volumes enclosed by structurally expressive, linear forms.
Medieval parish churches were thickly populated with images. Carvings of one kind of another could be applied to almost any structural part or furnishing, from fine statues to rough grosteques. Wall paintings have often been inadvertently protected under whitewash or plaster, so that fresh examples are still being uncovered. However, paintings are also prone to fade or flake away once exposed to light and air, and some recorded by earlier generations are now scarcely visible. Despite these losses, hundreds of wall paintings survive: enough to give a reasonable idea of the prevalent styles and subjects.
As to imagery, a Last Judgement was commonly applied to the wall above and around the chancel arch, sometimes with the Damned and the Saved depicted on opposing sides. Other saints may appear as single figures holding or wearing their identifying attributes, or in narrative scenes. Moralizing imagery of other kinds was common too: the Seven Deadly Sins, the Acts of Mercy, the Wheel of Fortune, the Archangel Michael weighing souls in the balance, or the group known as the Three Living and the Three Dead. Images of Christ's wounded body conveyed explicit warnings against swearing or breaking the Sabbath. Much medieval wall painting was much simpler, consisting of simple patterns, or limitations of more prestigious materials. Medieval stained glass likewise tends to survive only in a damaged or fragmentary state. Sometimes what bits and pieces remain have been gathered together and re-set in a single panel, collage-fashion.
Beginning in the 1530s under Henry VIII, the Church of England was transformed into a Protestant body, with the monarch rather than the pope as its supreme head. The consequences for parish life and church buildings were drastic. Prayers for the dead were abolished, cutting off in full flood the life of the guilds and chantries and making their chapels redundant. Prayers addressed through saints were done away with too, and most religious imagery fell into disfavour. Cult statues were destroyed and the great sculpted or painted Crucifixion groups over the rood screen were taken down. Especially vulnerable were representations of St. Mary the Virgin and of St. Thomas a Becket, a popular saint who was associated with the independence of the Church from royal power.
The loss of Medieval religious art is best understood instead as a long process of which the Reformation was only the first instalment. Fresh programmes of iconoclasm were launched in the 1640s-50s during the Civil War and Commonwealth; the journals of the zealous William Dowsing during this period give a detailed, church-by-church account of his team of deputies' progress through East Anglia, hunting down and 'cleansing' anything suggestive of Catholic belief and practice. But a great deal that survived such assaults gradually disappeared in later centuries, by accident or neglect more than by ideological attack. At a time when few people were interested in the material remains of the past, it was not easy to justify the cost of restoring damaged and draughty stained glass rather than installing plain new windows, or planning new church seating in such a way that an inconveniently placed medieval monument or screen could be retained. As writings and records by early antiquaries and topographers show, a great deal of old work that survived into the late centuries disappeared quietly under the generations that followed.
Most churches designed after the First World War are easily distinguished from those of the generations before. Building costs, already rising steeply in the years before 1914, were higher still when peace returned. Yet the demand for new churches held steady, especially for new suburbs and for the first giant council estates, so that new Anglican churches were consecrated at an average rate of one a month between the wars. The architecture that resulted tended to be leaner and sparer than that of the Edwardian years, and less dependent on costly displays of details from historical styles. Although a bell-tower of some sort remained a common Anglican denominator, grand towers with spires were much less often attempted, and more churches were designed from the outset with spirelets or bellcotes only. Architectural mouldings and details were commonly stylized or simplified, and churches depended more for effect on unadorned walls.
A pity of this book is that it touches only upon churches in England, so I disagree that this is an "architectural guide" of churches as the book title suggests.
March 31, 2018
A useful brief guide to English Church architecture. Simon Bradley writes lucidly on the development of church building, the styles and embelishments which make church crawling so enjoyable, Well worth buying if the architecture of the oldest building near you is of interest.
July 2, 2019
Bradley writes concisely but cogently. His analysis is Pevsnerian. The book is elegantly produced with good illustrations in colour. A challenge for the neophyte!
August 6, 2016
This is a lovely little survey of church architecture from Anglo-Saxon times to the present. Even though it excludes non-Anglican churches from after the Reformation, it is still packed with information. The style throughout it clear and elegant. The photos are beautiful. The thematic chapters that come between the chapters devoted to architectural periods are fascinating and make it a more pleasant read from start to finish.
I did find the book pitched a bit above my level as a beginner. It is full of specialised terminology, and frustratingly there is no glossary—readers have to fork out for an entirely seperate glossary in book form. I found the amount of information at times overwhelming, though in a book of such concision and historical sweep, I'm not sure how the author could have avoided this.
All in all, a good holiday read that has helped me to understand more of what I see as I tour the British Isles.
I did find the book pitched a bit above my level as a beginner. It is full of specialised terminology, and frustratingly there is no glossary—readers have to fork out for an entirely seperate glossary in book form. I found the amount of information at times overwhelming, though in a book of such concision and historical sweep, I'm not sure how the author could have avoided this.
All in all, a good holiday read that has helped me to understand more of what I see as I tour the British Isles.
August 21, 2017
Definitely not for beginners. Unbelievably there's no glossary, so despite terms being clearly highlighted in the text, these are only sometimes backed with an explanation, and there's nothing to refer back to when the term comes up again.
Although stuffed with bright and interesting images, these didn't often correspond with the church/churches being mentioned in the text. I can see that the author intended to give further examples of features by talking about one and showing another, but I'd have preferred to actually look at the specific church being discussed, even if that meant knowing about fewer examples overall.
I did like how every other chapter honed in on a particular feature e.g. stained glass windows, screens etc as the main body of the book followed a linear timeline from earliest to most recent church construction.
All in all though this was a bit disappointing and I doubt if much of it will stick in my memory.
Although stuffed with bright and interesting images, these didn't often correspond with the church/churches being mentioned in the text. I can see that the author intended to give further examples of features by talking about one and showing another, but I'd have preferred to actually look at the specific church being discussed, even if that meant knowing about fewer examples overall.
I did like how every other chapter honed in on a particular feature e.g. stained glass windows, screens etc as the main body of the book followed a linear timeline from earliest to most recent church construction.
All in all though this was a bit disappointing and I doubt if much of it will stick in my memory.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews