Spending his weekends exploring historic churches across the idyllic English countryside - and sharing their beauty and unsung history across social media - Luke Sherlock is bringing English history and the heritage of our rural countryside to a new audience. England is full of incredible churches, from small stone chapels and quiet Romanesque masterpieces, to thousand-year-old Saxon stalwarts, dramatic Gothic monuments and high Victorian treasures. These special places, often under-celebrated and overlooked, dot the English landscape but collectively tell a remarkable story of our nation. Travelling to all corners of England - from the Kent marshlands to the Norfolk fens, Yorkshire hills, Somerset lanes and beyond - Sherlock carefully documents these unique buildings, celebrating their histories and decoding their hidden meanings. Bringing together 70 of the most unusual, intriguing and atmospheric of England's churches, Sherlock tells stories of craftsmanship and local community, whilst centering these buildings at the heart of our national story and revealing their forgotten secrets and cultural significance.
By:
Luke Sherlock
Illustrated by:
Ioana Pioaru
Imprint: Frances Lincoln Publisher
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 160mm,
Weight: 750g
ISBN: 9780711294103
ISBN 10: 0711294100
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 01 April 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Full list of churches included in the book: St Peter Edensor, Derbyshire St John the Baptist Chelmorton, Derbyshire St Mary and St Barlok Norbury, Derbyshire St John the Baptist Tideswell, Derbyshire All Saints Brixworth, Northamptonshire St Martin Canterbury, Kent St Peter-on-the-Wall Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex St Lawrence Eyam, Derbyshire St Mary Breamore, Hampshire St Laurence Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire St John the Baptist, Barnack Cambridgeshire St John’s Chapel Tower of London St Mary & St David Kilpeck, Herefordshire Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty, Winchester, Hampshire St Germans Priory St Germans, Cornwall Dore Abbey Abbey Dore, Herefordshire St Mary the Virgin Iffley, Oxfordshire St Mary the Virgin West Walton, Norfolk The Church of St Margaret Little Faringdon, Oxfordshire Hexham Abbey Hexham, Northumberland The Church of St Margaret of Antioch Stoke Golding, Leicestershire St Cuthbert Fishlake, Yorkshire St Andrew Heckington, Lincolnshire Collegiate Church of Holy Trinity Tattershall, Lincolnshire Priory Church of St Mary the Virgin Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire St Mary the Virgin Berkeley, Gloucestershire St Mary the Virgin Isle Abbotts, Somerset St Mary the Virgin Woolpit, Suffolk St Mary Magdalene Croome D’Abitot, Worcestershire St Mary Old Dilton, Wiltshire St John Westminster, London St Mary Woolnoth City of London St James Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire St Giles Wimborne St Giles, Dorset St Michael Duntisbourne Rouse, Gloucestershire St Enodoc Trebetherick, Cornwall St Senara Zennor, Cornwall St Just St Just in Roseland, Cornwall Watts Cemetery Chapel Compton, Surrey St Bartholomew the Great City of London St Peter Southease, East Sussex St John Duxford, Cambridgeshire St Peter Walpole St Peter, Norfolk St Beuno Culbone, Somerset St John the Baptist Inglesham, Wiltshire All Saints Babworth, Nottinghamshire Binham Priory Binham, Norfolk St John the Baptist Burford, Oxfordshire St Mary & All Saints Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire Jordans Meeting House Jordans, Buckinghamshire The Church of St Andrew Mells, Somerset Temple Church City of London The Church of the Holy Trinity Blythburgh, Suffolk St Mary of the Assumption Ufford, Suffolk St John the Baptist Plymtree, Devon St Helen Ranworth, Norfolk St Mary the Virgin Ewelme, Oxfordshire St Mary the Virgin Sparham, Norfolk St Peter & St Paul Chaldon, Surrey St Peter Wenhaston, Suffolk St Michael Castle Frome, Herefordshire St Edward Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire The Church of St Mary Fairford, Gloucestershire St Mary the Virgin Higham, Kent St Peter Wiggenhall St Peter, Norfolk St John the Baptist Sutterby, Lincolnshire All Saints Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire All Saints Walesby, Lincolnshire St Cuthbert Bewcastle, Cumbria St Ninian Brougham, Cumbria St Cyriac Lacock, Wiltshire
Luke Sherlock is a writer, pilgrim and book shop owner with a boundless enthusiasm for heritage and art. There's little he enjoys more than throwing on a backpack, heading off down some unknown footpath and pausing to explore a hushed, ancient church along the way. His writing covers historic landmarks and the landscapes they sit within. Luke grew up exploring the Peak District of Derbyshire, a landscape that inspired his deep yearning to hit the ancient routes that criss-cross England. On social media Luke shares photos of his travels on instagram as @englishpilgrim.Ioana Pioaru is a Romanian-British artist living in West Sussex, UK. She works with a variety of media, ranging from traditional drawing and printmaking to VR art-making and holography. She has exhibited internationally with both group and solo shows.
Reviews for Forgotten Churches: Exploring England's Hidden Treasures
'Beautifully written and illustrated, Forgotten Churches makes me want to embark upon small pilgrimages to all the wonderful places in its pages.' -- Peter Ross, author of Steeple Chasing
