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England's Thousand Best Churches
 
 
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England's Thousand Best Churches [Paperback]

Simon Jenkins (Author), Paul Barker (Photographer)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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There is a newer edition of this item:
England's Thousand Best Churches England's Thousand Best Churches 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
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Book Description

May 1, 2001
Following the huge success of the book last Christmas, comes a new edition of this classic work, in portable trade paperback format. Simon Jenkins travelled the length and breadth of England to select his thousand best churches. Organised by county, each church is described - often with delightful asides - and given a star-rating from one to five. All of the county sections are prefaced by a map locating each church, and lavishly illustrated with colour photos from the Country Life archive. Reviewers and readers alike in their thousands have been delighted by this book.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Masterly, perhaps a masterpiece' Independent Books of the Year

About the Author

Simon Jenkins writes for The Times and The London Evening Standard - both of which he has previously edited.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 880 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Revised edition (May 1, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140297952
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140297959
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Barker has worked as professional newspaper photographer since 1989, when he got caught in the middle of a riot whilst on work experience for a local paper. He rose through the ranks in the traditional way, freelancing for local papers the Telegraph and Argus and the Yorkshire Post, before moving on to a small local agency, then a large local agency, a time in London and then back north.

Eventually he became a stringer for the Press Association for 5 years, then a contract freelance for Agence France Presse for 6 years. After that he moved on to work mainly for Sunday titles, mostly the News of the World and the Sunday Times. In over 20 years he has seen all the changes in the industry, from the technology involved to the style of stories covered and the way the whole business works. He has covered many major news and sporting events including The funeral of princess Diana, the Live 8 concert, European football championships and Champions League finals.

Prior to becoming a professional photographer after finishing university, Paul spent two years traveling around America as an itinerant rock climber before getting a crew position on the yacht and sailing home. Whilst working for AFP he also ran and played in a Pink Floyd tribute band which went from playing in pubs of Bradford to being an international touring show. (Look out for these as books yet to be written.)

Paul lives in the heart of Yorkshire's Bronte country near the village of Haworth and is married with 2 children. Besides photography and writing he enjoys potholing, bell ringing and small bore rifle shooting, in which he has competed at a high level winning various national titles and shooting for England.

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, but could have been better., June 6, 2002
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: England's Thousand Best Churches (Paperback)
In this book, Jenkins describes his choice of the thousand best churches in England. Churches range from tiny, rural chapels notable for their remote, dramatic settings, to grand and majestic churches. (Cathedrals, however, are not covered, only parish churches.) He also rates the churches from one star through 5 stars.
The descriptions are generally full and compelling. However, I took off one star from my rating, because, for the armchair traveller, more pictures would have been welcome. (How frustrating to read about glorious stained glass windows, and have no idea what they actually look like!) Only about one in 10 churches is illustrated with either an interior or exterior photo.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart!, November 11, 2004
By 
This review is from: England's Thousand Best Churches (Paperback)
This is an absolutely fascinating book that is indespensable if you are touring around England and want to see some amazingly lovely off-the-beaten-track places.

Mr. Jenkins has compiled a listing of one thousand churches throughout England that he feels are worth seeing. Each church is given a description, including a specific reason why it ranks among the top thousand. There is such a splendidly wide array of reasons: from architectural details, to unique contruction tecniques, to interesting historical context, that it never gets dull.

My parents are taking the book quite seriously, and are trying to visit each of the churches (I think they are a quarter of the way through, and their copy of this book is alrady completely covered with marginalia!). I have visited several of the churches with them, and always find the experience enlightening and interesting. Each church truly is unique, and it is always fascinating to see how.

Since the publication of the book, many of the churches that are on the list have taken an active interest in their own history. When my parents first started touring the churches, they were usually met by blank stares and a "why on earth do you care about our little church?" from the locals... but a few years later they find that frequently the whole community has rallied around the idea that they had an undiscovered treasure in their midst, and something to be quite proud of. For that reason alone, I think it's a great book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed, July 6, 2011
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This review is from: England's Thousand Best Churches (Paperback)
Plus side: detailed descriptions and good info on locations of these churches for those who want to go out and see them. The 5 star rating system is also useful.
Down side: I was not impressed by the photos. Far too many are of interiors for my taste, and many of the exteriors are too close up to depict the churches in their full grandeur.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Bedfordshire is not a glamorous county, yet there are surprising pleasures off its all-too-beaten tracks. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
east window glass, carved poppyheads, sedilia group, ogee niches, weepers round, south chancel chapel, chancel east window, chamfered arches, shafted piers, intersecting tracery, aisled chancel, dogtooth decoration, chancel reredos, small bellcote, zigzag carving, chancel arcade, reticulated tracery, medieval choir stalls, weeping putti, rood group, corbel heads, old box pews, north aisle windows, lierne vault, ogee canopies
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Early Gothic, Sir John, Holy Trinity, Middle Ages, Lady Chapel, George Gilbert Scott, East Anglian, Sir Thomas, Sir William, Art Nouveau, Tree of Jesse, Black Death, Queen Anne, Green Man, Sir Robert, Westminster Abbey, Wars of the Roses, Green Men, Decorated Gothic, Easter Sepulchre, High Church, Grinling Gibbons, Roman Catholic, West Country, William Morris
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