Book review: Church Going: A stonemason’s Guide to the Churches of the British Isles by Andrew Ziminski

OHCT Trustee Malcolm Airs reviews this delightful book by Andrew Ziminski, a working stonemason involved with the restoration of churches for more than 35 years.

Church Going: A stonemason’s Guide to the Churches of the British Isles
 by Andrew Ziminski

The author of this delightful book is a working stonemason who has been involved with the restoration of churches for more than 35 years. It is written with infectious passion not just for the fabric and the artefacts of the medieval church but also for the craftsmen who created them and for the rituals and daily lives of the communities they served. He claims to have personally visited more than half of the 10,000 medieval churches in Britain ever since he began his church crawl as a teenager. His intention in writing the book is clearly set out in his helpful introduction. It is not a history of church architecture but rather an explanation ‘of how the history and evolution of churches…and the lives of the people who used them are interlinked’. It proceeds in a logical sequence which begins in the churchyard before exploring the exterior and then enters the church to provide a comprehensive examination of every detail of the interior. It is informed by his professional expertise derived from the large number of churches that he has worked on and it is illuminated by his own photographs and beautifully presented drawings by his wife and daughter.

His focus is almost exclusively on the medieval parish church and he is scathing about the disastrous consequences of the Reformation and the Civil War on their intrinsic beauty. Nor does he have much sympathy for the efforts of the Victorian restorers. It is very much a personal journey, enlivened by anecdotes from his visits, snatches of poetry, and his delight at discovering hidden treasures such as the cresset buried in the rubble stone wall of Sherborne Abbey which, after he had recorded it, he carefully put back in its hidden location as part of his restoration of the fabric. Every element is preceded by a succinct definition before he describes examples drawn from Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Wales. He has greatly increased my understanding and appreciation of everything to be found in and around the churchyards of the Kingdom. From now on my church crawls will be better informed than they have ever been. The author has written a very enjoyable book and the publishers deserve special praise for the quality of the production at such a very reasonable price. It is highly recommended.

Church Going: A stonemasons Guide to the Churches of the British Isles by Andrew Ziminski

(Profile Books) October 2024, 401 pages, numerous illustrations. ISBN 978 1 80081 868 2, hardback & eBook, £25.

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