England's Thousand Best Churches

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, but could have been better.
Review: For those interested in knowing more about England's wonderful parish churches, this book is a must. Organized by county, the book should prove useful for travellers like me who fall victim to every village spire. I appreciated both his wit and knowledge about the subject.

Rating:
Summary: What an inspiration!
Review: For those interested in knowing more about England's wonderful parish churches, this book is a must. Organized by county, the book should prove useful for travellers like me who fall victim to every village spire. I appreciated both his wit and knowledge about the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, but could have been better.
Review: In this book, Jenkins describes his choice of the thousand best churches in England. Churches range from tiny, rural chapels notable for their remote, dramatic settings, to grand and majestic churches. (Cathedrals, however, are not covered, only parish churches.) He also rates the churches from one star through 5 stars.
The descriptions are generally full and compelling. However, I took off one star from my rating, because, for the armchair traveller, more pictures would have been welcome. (How frustrating to read about glorious stained glass windows, and have no idea what they actually look like!) Only about one in 10 churches is illustrated with either an interior or exterior photo.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining, Informative Study Of English Churches
Review: Jenkins has created a masterful examination of these jewels in the British legacy. The book's authoritative tone stems from Jenkins' comprehensive descriptions of each church's distinguishing features. His eye for detail enables the reader to appreciate the styles that link each church together, as well as the individual features that make each church distinct.

This book could have been a dry, lifeless study. Instead, it is quite entertaining, thanks to Jenkins' penchant for casually slipping his opinions on various matters into a church's description. An example of this behavior can be found in the discussion of the church at Honeychurch. He notes: "The sign on the door says simply, 'This door is never locked.' It should be the motto of the Church of England." These understated opinions on matters as diverse as church restoration and Victorian stained glass give the book a casualness that most scholarly studies don't possess.

Anglophiles and architecture students will find there's something in this book for both of them. For the Anglophile, the pictures and descriptive text will easily have one imagining that they are walking through the moors and dales. For the student, the discussions of each church's architectural and decorative details will provide an excellent resource for understanding the design of the buildings. However, the readership of this book shouldn't be limited to these groups. Any reader will find the book to be an invaluable guide for understanding the significance of these English cultural treasures.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining, Informative Study Of English Churches
Review: Jenkins has created a masterful examination of these jewels in the British legacy. The book's authoritative tone stems from Jenkins' comprehensive descriptions of each church's distinguishing features. His eye for detail enables the reader to appreciate the styles that link each church together, as well as the individual features that make each church distinct.

This book could have been a dry, lifeless study. Instead, it is quite entertaining, thanks to Jenkins' penchant for casually slipping his opinions on various matters into a church's description. An example of this behavior can be found in the discussion of the church at Honeychurch. He notes: "The sign on the door says simply, 'This door is never locked.' It should be the motto of the Church of England." These understated opinions on matters as diverse as church restoration and Victorian stained glass give the book a casualness that most scholarly studies don't possess.

Anglophiles and architecture students will find there's something in this book for both of them. For the Anglophile, the pictures and descriptive text will easily have one imagining that they are walking through the moors and dales. For the student, the discussions of each church's architectural and decorative details will provide an excellent resource for understanding the design of the buildings. However, the readership of this book shouldn't be limited to these groups. Any reader will find the book to be an invaluable guide for understanding the significance of these English cultural treasures.

Rating:
Summary: The consummate gift book
Review: The history presented, and the wonderful photographs, are a panorama of architectural beauty and fascination topped only by Jenkins' insightful and witty comments. This is a perfect "coffee table volume" for anyone interested in the Church, the arts, or history, and for others who plan travel to areas of England they have not previously explored. An added bonus is that those passionate about any one of the topics will, as I have found, have the further entertainment of arguing whether Simon's choices actually were of the 1,000 best, and which of their own favourites would have topped them.

Rating:
Summary: The consummate gift book
Review: The history presented, and the wonderful photographs, are a panorama of architectural beauty and fascination topped only by Jenkins' insightful and witty comments. This is a perfect "coffee table volume" for anyone interested in the Church, the arts, or history, and for others who plan travel to areas of England they have not previously explored. An added bonus is that those passionate about any one of the topics will, as I have found, have the further entertainment of arguing whether Simon's choices actually were of the 1,000 best, and which of their own favourites would have topped them.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart!
Review: This is an absolutely fascinating book that is indespensable if you are touring around England and want to see some amazingly lovely off-the-beaten-track places.

Mr. Jenkins has compiled a listing of one thousand churches throughout England that he feels are worth seeing. Each church is given a description, including a specific reason why it ranks among the top thousand. There is such a splendidly wide array of reasons: from architectural details, to unique contruction tecniques, to interesting historical context, that it never gets dull.

My parents are taking the book quite seriously, and are trying to visit each of the churches (I think they are a quarter of the way through, and their copy of this book is alrady completely covered with marginalia!). I have visited several of the churches with them, and always find the experience enlightening and interesting. Each church truly is unique, and it is always fascinating to see how.

Since the publication of the book, many of the churches that are on the list have taken an active interest in their own history. When my parents first started touring the churches, they were usually met by blank stares and a "why on earth do you care about our little church?" from the locals... but a few years later they find that frequently the whole community has rallied around the idea that they had an undiscovered treasure in their midst, and something to be quite proud of. For that reason alone, I think it's a great book.