Books
The Cathedrals of England by Alex Clifton-Taylor (Thames and Hudson, 1977) - an entertaining and informative work tracing the history of English cathedrals from their earliest days right up to the 20th century. A good place to start for a general overview of these fascinating buildings.
How Old is this Church? by Pamela Cunnington (Marston House, 1994) - just what the title suggests. A useful basic guide to understanding how to date old churches and their features.
Guided by a Stonemason: The Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches of Britain Unveiled by Thomas Maude (IB Tauris, 1997) - written by an experienced stonemason who uses his lifetime鈥檚 knowledge to explore the structure and building techniques of historic cathedrals, abbeys and churches. This is something a bit different if you want to go beyond the development of architectural styles.
English Parish Churches by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook (Thames and Hudson, 1976) - this book, and the companion volume on English Cathedrals, are compilations of Smith's best images. In addition to the truly beautiful pictures, the text by Olive Cook provides a useful overview of the history of parish churches from Norman times onwards.
Links
: The organisation charged with preserving England鈥檚 historic buildings and presenting them to the public. This website has information about many buildings you might like to visit. Select 'Understanding the past' to search the National Monuments Record archive of photographs, and 'Images of England' for the history of England's 370,000 listed buildings.
: Details of Scotland's listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments, plus educational resources for schools and information on conservation.
: Details of historic buildings and heritage sites in Wales, with detailed access to events across Wales.
: Images and details of buildings and architects around the world. You can search the database by place, architect or thematic term such as 'cathedral'. Travel the world without leaving your desk.
: This site has a fantastic glossary of terms related to architecture, and excellent guides to architectural styles. Related to the Pevsner Architectural Guides (otherwise known as The Buildings of England) series of books - indispensable reference guides to historic architecture.
Places to visit
Cathedrals: There are more than 30 cathedrals in England, so there is bound to be one reasonably near to where you live. Ely and Durham are the best for a wide variety of different architectural styles. Every cathedral will reward you with its history, if you can鈥檛 get to one of those two. Most cathedrals are open to the public every day.
Parish churches: With about 16,000 parish churches in England and Wales, there is almost certainly a parish church just around the corner to your home. You could go to Kirtling if you are near Cambridgeshire - otherwise, try to find the parish church nearest you and see what story it has to tell you. Opening hours for parish churches vary - some are open all the time, others only during services or by appointment. It is best to check before you visit. Information about some (but not all) churches that are open can be found at .
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Published: 02-02-2005
