This book is the
first comprehensive study of late-Georgian church-building. After centuries
of post-Reformation inactivity, the Church of England began to address the
desperate shortage of accommodation and build on a huge scale. Almost all the
leading architects were involved and, amongst
approximately 1500 new churches there are some outstanding designs; buildings
of the very highest order architecturally. In this pioneering study, the churches are
considered free from the Ecclesiological zeal that condemned them and has,
for so long, prevented their serious study. It will celebrate the best of
them and provide valuable insights into the design and planning of the whole
corpus. There will be many revelations. Included is a
thorough examination of the stylistic alternatives and contemporary
liturgical imperatives, along with their architectural implications. And the
book explores a lost world of late-Georgian churchgoing: what people expected
and experienced in a church service. Also considered are some of the period’s
remarkable material and constructional innovations, ones often exploited in
church-building, along with the provision of architectural services in the
era that preceded full professionalisation.