Mark Spurrell is an independent scholar, and has been interested in medieval chuches since he was a boy. He took his degree in modern history at Corpus Christi College Oxford and gained the diploma in theology. After his retirement Dr Spurrell took a D.Phil, the title of his thesis being ‘The development of the medieval chancel and its use by the laity.’ He has edited a number of texts for record societies, and contributed articles to learned journals. He now concentrates on how medieval people used and thought about their churches.