Rodwell, Warwick.

Our Christian heritage / Warwick Rodwell and James Bentley.

London : G. Philip, ©1984.
London : G. Philip, 1984
©1984

254 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

"The parish church is such a familiar feature of the landscape that we have ceased to see it for what it is. These buildings are often richer in history than anything else in the neighbourhood and full of works of art, from carved bench ends and gargoyles to stained glass and embroideries — all from the hands of skilled men who laboured for years in the service of the Church. What is true at the level of the parish is magnified in the case of our cathedrals, as remarkable and awe-inspiring now as they were when first built centuries ago. Today, as at some periods in the past, this rich legacy is threatened, partly by the ravages of time and lack of adequate resources to offset them, and partly because falling church attendances mean that many of these buildings are far too large for present congregations or clearly redundant. In their wide-ranging text Warwick Rodwell and James Bentley look at the Church’s impact on the society and culture of Great Britain from the arrival of Christianity in Roman times to the present day. They show how the enormous and diverse legacy of buildings we can see today reflects the Church’s role in society and its changing fortunes — the great period of expansion and building in the high Middle Ages, for example, contrasting with the dissolution and destruction of the 16th century, when estates and buildings were appropriated, many works of art destroyed and monastic ‘country-houses’ created. The book ends by considering the problems faced by the Church today in looking after our ecclesiastical heritage and handing it on to future generations. The authors point out that the present-day disposal of church treasures can be seen as a twentieth-century form of iconoclasm paralleling the destruction of the 17th century, but they also discuss the many positive ways in which difficulties are being tackled, in particular the move to find alternative uses for redundant buildings. Bringing in examples from all over the country, this is a fascinating account of the central importance of the Church in the cultural history of Great Britain." -- Dust jacket.

0540010782
9780540010783

Church architecture Great Britain.
Religious architecture Great Britain.
Architecture religieuse Grande-Bretagne.
Architecture chrétienne Grande-Bretagne.
Religious architecture
Church architecture
Geschichte
Kirchenbau
Kirchengeschichte
Great Britain Church history.
Grande-Bretagne Histoire religieuse.
Great Britain
Großbritannien
Great Britain Christianity, to 1983

Church history

Bentley, James, 1937-2000.

Location: Library main 25643
Call No.: W15513; ID:88-B11773
Status: Available