English Parish Churches (1952)

It is no accident that Englands literature and her parish churches have been closely associated from their dim beginnings. In these two expressions of national temperament and character. English genius, too, is seen at its purest and most effective.

 

English cathedrals, glorious as they are, were dominated by continental influences and are restricted to four centuries. But the churches have formed an intimate part of the English way of life for thirteen. Collectively they are a national storehouse of architectural and artistic beauty.

 

It is to Edwin Smiths expert photographs that the reader should first, turn for the most revealing evocation of this "tale of beauty ... the talk of stones and the voices of the past"; but their value is greatly enhanced by Graham Huttons extremely well documented text, which affords the background without which they are incomplete.

 

This volume, the publishers believe, can worthily take its place beside Martin Hürlimanns firmly established English Cathedrals.