Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 1150-1350

Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2018. Book. Fine. Hardcover. First Edition. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. A fine new copy, heavily illustrated with 64 colour and 31 black-and-white illustrations, cloth-bound with a colour dustwrapper. This is the third in a chronological series of volumes based on weekend conferences at Rewley House in Oxford, concerning places of worship in Britain and Ireland from the late Roman period to the present. The period covered in this volume saw the rise of the great cathedrals, the spread of reformed monasticism (including nunneries), the coming of the friars and the spread of the parish system into every corner of Britain and Ireland. Architecturally, the emergence and spread of the Gothic style is of special significance, but as important was the evolution of church plans and form to accommodate new forms of worship driven by developments in theology and liturgy. The emphasis here is on the main types of institution and particularly those for which good physical evidence survives. Cathedrals, monasteries of several orders, nunneries, friaries and parish churches are all represented. The spread of Christian values throughout society and the creation of the universal church of the middle ages, binding Britain and Ireland to the whole of Christendom in a uniform culture, are also common themes. The 12 essays are by Philippa Turner (introduction and images), John Harper (on ritual and music), Richard Halsey (on cathedral extensions), Cathy Oakes (on the Benedictines), Glyn Coppack (on the Cistercians), Richard Oram (the Premonstratensians in Scotland), Deirdre O'Sullivan (friaries), Tracy Collins (Irish nunneries), P. S. Barnwell (English parish churches and the conclusion), and Richard Fawcett (on Scottish parish churches). Comprehensive index..