Jenkins pays particular attention to the exquisite Wren and Hawksmoor churches in the City of London, such as St Bride Fleet Street and St Martin Within Ludgate, erected during 1670-1720 as part of the rebuilding of the city following the Great Fire of London in 1666. Most were damaged in the Blitz of World War II, but have been extensively restored, even though their parishes have disappeared around them. England's Thousand Best Churches is a varied, informative and entertaining overview of what constitutes, in Jenkins' view, "a Museum of England". From Cumbria to Cambridgeshire, "it is through the churches of England that we learn who we were and thus who we are and might become. Lose that learning and we lose the collective memory that is the essence of human society." --Catherine Taylor

I do, however, have three criticisms:

The first is to do with the book's organisation. Given the ever-increasing fluidity of modern administrative boundaries, which ebb and flow seemingly with each successive Local Government Act, why not use ALL the old, historic, pre-1965/1974 county boundaries, still largely adhered to in the Buildings of England series? Granted we are presented with the recently recreated Rutland and Herefordshire, and even the long-departed Huntingdonshire, so why do we still have to suffer that amorphous lump of "Cumbria", or "North Yorkshire", instead of dealing with the three historic ridings, or the indignity of lovely West Riding churches treated under, horror of horrors, Lancashire.

It may be pertinent that Mr Jenkins has seen fit to go by the old counties in southern England but not in the north and that brings me to my second grumble, namely a slight but still discernable southern bias. We all know that Somerset and Norfolk have outstanding church architecture but so too, as Mr J admits himself, does Yorkshire. So why is it that there are so many more entries for the former than for his "N Yorks" section? And as for Northumberland and "Cumbria", so scanty is the coverage I'm left seriously questioning whether his journeyings actually took him up the A1 much past Wetherby.

Quibble three is that, ex-Anglican or not, there is a wee bit too much concentration on the fourth rate C of E to the exclusion of some first rate Catholic and especially Nonconformist buildings. Yes, Cheadle and Walpole and Tewkesbury Old Baptist are there, but I sought in vane for Newbiggin (Durham), the World's oldest Methodist chapel, or Brigflatts or Colthouse Meeting Houses, and where is the National Trust's lovely Loughwood in Devon?

That said, Simon Jenkins has given us a very fine book and I do hope that he may manage a sequel. Might I be so bold as to suggest a companion 1000 covering the other home countries, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands? But please, if you're reading this Mr J, can we have Radnorshire and Sutherland and not "Powys" and "Highland"?!


A good start to viewing Englands fine medieval churches.   April 29, 2000
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

THIS BOOK HAS BEEEN A CONSTANT SOUCE OF PLEASURE SINCE I PURCHASED IT. THE BOOK WILL BE THE START OF MANY A WEEK-END BREAK AND OFFERS A GOOD REFERENCE TO VISITING CHURCHES IS MANY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. Any book can be critisised for missing some churches out these churches may not figure in the broad brush picture the author paints. Some feed back to the author could be appreciated. good value. Here's to the next 1,000, this is assuming the author can manage it


Recommended!   January 26, 2000
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Every reader will wonder "Why didn't he include St ****?"! But by definition every such selection will be subjective. So just accept that and you'll thoroughly enjoy the book. Faultless prose and wonderful photographs.


original, stimulating, a superb aid for the curious   January 13, 2000
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

We spent two enjoyable days revisiting the haunts of her youth with my 87 year-old mother-in-law;the detail and opinionated nature of the "reviews" interested us all and encouraged us to seek out churches unknown. This is Pevsner's heir with more punch.