The Reformation of the English Parish Church

Robert Whiting is Principal Lecturer in History at the University of York St John. His previous publications include The Blind Devotion of the People (1989) and Local Responses to the English Reformation (1998).

• Introduction; PART I. RITUAL REQUIREMENTS: 1. Defining the spaces: screens; 2. Presenting the sacrifices: altars; 3. Washing the sins: fonts; 4. Serving the sacraments: plate; 5. Adorning the rites: cloth; 6. Providing the words: books; 7. Preserving the treasures: receptacles; PART II. ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS: 8. Depicting the faith: paintings; 9. Lighting the darkness: glass; 10. Embodying the holy: images; 11. Creating the music: organs and bells; 12. Conveying the message: pulpits and seats; 13. Raising the levels: galleries; 14. Recalling the dead: memorials; Conclusion.

'We can stand back and marvel at the scope of the author's achievement … Now we discover what Dr Whiting has spent the past 12 years doing: acquiring an amazingly detailed knowledge of England's parish churches, and of how they changed between 1530 and 1640, so that he can read the story of the Reformation as it was inscribed in those churches' fabric … This is a book which will be enjoyed most as a box of treasures, a guide to the marvels still hidden away in England's parish churches … As a guide to what survives, to what was lost, and why, this book has no rival.' Alec Ryrie, The Tablet