Tiny Churches

by Dixe Wills

While traveling all over Britain on his pushbike, non-flying travel writer Dixe Wills is forever popping into old churches to look around, grab a moment of tranquility, or just to shelter from the elements. Extending his love of all things tiny into yet another area, this book is his guide to 60 of the loveliest and most diminutive churches that Britain has to offer, many of which are known only to locals or tourists who are simply lucky enough to stumble across them. Each church is so tiny that only about 30 people could fit comfortably inside, and each is open to the public. Representing a unique slice of British local history and attitudes, tiny churches are the great survivors of the world. Unlike grand cathedrals, they were built to serve more humble ends, but they withstood centuries of religious unrest (and the Victorian "church improvers") to survive into this most irreligious of centuries. Today, scattered all over Britain, these atmospheric places retain the essence of what they were when the stonemasons, laborers, smiths, carpenters, and glaziers were corralled together to build them.

Genres: History, Architecture, Nonfiction, Travel, Reference, Religion

320 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Assuming for a moment that we are what we do, I’m an author and freelance non-flying travel journalist. I’ve written a number of genre-bending books and one or two that give librarians fewer dilemmas. My most recent work is Tiny Stations (AA) which is a journey through the penumbric world of Britain’s railway request stops. Prior to Tiny Stations, I penned Tiny Islands (AA) and Tiny Campsites (Punk). Before the mania for all things tiny struck me, I managed to knock out a few non-size-specific books, including The Z-Z of Great Britain, Places to Hide in England, Scotland and Wales, New World Order (Wills Weltordnung in its Bloomsbury Berlin edition) and, under the name Johnson P Johnson, The Armchair Naturalist (all Icon).

I write for the UK newspaper The Guardian, mainly on green travel. You can read my articles here. You might also find me popping up in other newspapers (though not ones owned by Rupert Murdoch or edited by Paul Dacre, you’ll be pleased to learn) and magazines, some of which you’ll find listed here. I host a monthly spoken word night-cum-pub quiz mash up called Stranger than Fiction that you really ought to come along to because it’s great fun and only costs six quid. I also have a cracking Isle of Dogs-based romcom script unjustly gathering dust in a cupboard. Is there no start to my talents?

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst not particularly religious, Dixe Wills still takes time to pop into most of the churches that he passes as he travels around the countryside on his bike. These places are not huge edifices that can seat hundreds, rather they are modest buildings that have served the needs of their local communities for years, and in quite a lot of cases hundreds and hundreds of years.

For this book, Wills has had to reduce his shortlist down to 60 buildings and in line with his other books, he has chosen the smallest of them. Even the largest of those his has picked can seat 30 or so at a squeeze, but most only have room for a dozen or so. The range of building he has selected too is impressive, there are places that disappeared and the buildings were discovered much later with original architecture intact. He visits an amazing chapel made from Nissan Huts by Italian Prisoners of War WW2 up in Orkney. There are buildings that highlight the Romanesque, the Gothic and even takes us to the oldest wooden church in the country. It never ceases to amaze me just how old some of these places are. Frequently Norman and a significant number of churches with Anglo Saxon origins and even one with Roman foundations.

It is not a spiritual journey rather a pilgrimage to the tiny, quirky and always impressive spiritual focal points of villages and towns. I like Will writing style as he always manages to find lots of interesting things to say about any of the subjects that he is writing about, and this is no different, each church has a potted history of its significant features and his own personal take of his visit. Most importantly you can go and visit these yourself, clear details are given on how to get there and each mini-biography is accompanied by lovely photos of the church in question and some of the internal fittings and settings. Not just a book for the architecture buff, but one for those that have a passing interest in the places they are rooted in. A good companion volume to The King of Dust by Alex Woodcock.

[Nihou · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mum gave me this book for Christmas and I thought it might be vaguely interesting. I was wrong - it was very entertaining. I loved Dixe Wills' intelligent and comedic turn of phrase amid prose that showed a delight in architectural detail and historical asides. I look forward to finding some of these little gem churches across the British Isles.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully produced book is a pleasure to read. A subject which could be dry is treated lightly, in an entertaining manner. I was particularly pleased to find my own personal favourite, St. Oswald's at Widford, included in the book.

I received the book as a Goodreads giveaway.