England's Thousand Best Churches Hardcover – 28 Oct 1999

Jenkin's book has afforded me many happy days of church wandering in counties afar from home. His one to five star system does allow the traveller - whose time and money are limited - to cherry pick the most outstanding church buildings in an area. Yes, Pevsner is more thorough, but it costs £32 per volume per county (or part of a county), and it would be difficult to pick out the best. Jenkin's maps are also very useful, and he likes to set the scene and setting.

Of course, everyone will disagree with some of his ratings. The Anglo-Saxon church of Escomb, Co Durham, ranks only 2*, for example, when it is one of the most outstanding chuches of the period in the entire country, still within its own walled enclosure.

I also use the Blue Guide Churches of Northern (or Southern) England (out of print but obtainable used on Amazon) as a complement to Jenkins. A slightly different selection, and architecturally more detailed.

The hardback copy of Jenkins is rather heavy, even when travelling by car. If the paperback copy is durable, it is probably better, though without some of the photographs I guess.

So whether you are looking for Saxon long and short work, Norman zigzag, Early English lancets, decorated ogees, perpendicular fan-vaults, Easter sepulchres, Elizabethan funerary monuments, Gothick revival or Victorian masterpieces, Jenkins can guide you on your pilgrim way.

This is a super book, a comprehensive guide to what, despite one's prejudices, probably are among the best of England's churches. Each entry paints a church in fairly broad brushstrokes, giving major details and the odd little anecdote. Jenkins admits that he only visited about 2000 churches, on the recommendations of others, to narrow down to his 1000. This is, I suppose, as good a way of doing it as any; of course, it all depends on whom you ask. In common with most people I know who've got it, I've enjoyed reading the entries for churches I know, and have found very little to disagree with (the stuff about witchcraft under Ufford still seems a little unlikely). The book would be less useful for planning a visit to a new church, and would, in any case, be rather large to carry. Inevitably, the reader will find something missing, a church or two that they feel should be included. Jenkins' 50-odd Suffolk churches include most of my personal Top 30, but not all of them. I can't understand how he could have missed Westhall and Badingham, for instance; he must have not visited them. But that's okay; if his Suffolk churches were the same as mine, then I might as well give up now. Less useful is the star system, with which everyone seems to disagree. He seems to go for grandeur and triumphalism rather than integrity and beauty; which, of course, he has every right to do. That may explain how Stoke-by-Nayland gets more stars than Blythburgh or Ufford, an otherwise inconceivable decision. Another plus-point is that his agnostic ex-Anglican eyes are not fooled by the 19th century rewriting of English church history; he knows that the puritans are not to be blamed for everything. In short, this immense book is a must for anyone even vaguely interested in English churches and their history.

Extremely comprehensive review of its subject. The author's subjectivity, though inevitable, can be irritating. Many worthy contenders for inclusion presumably ommitted due to lack of access on day of author's visit. Given the book's title, this seems a pity. Nevertheless, a splendid tome and lovely to dip into.

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.

I have an interest in English churches, especially Saxon and round churches. Living in Northamptonshire, we have 3 national treasures in the county. The write up for Earls Barton's magnificent Saxon tower (c AD970) shows that Simon Jenkins has never visited the village. "Nestled against a council estate" is his description. What rubbish. It is not! He gives it just 3 stars when there is so much to see and marval at. The write up for Brixworth's Saxon church(c AD670) has Brixworth in the Nene Valley, which it is not. Errors like this really make me shudder. The write up for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre paints a dreary town of Northampton, something I get fed up of reading about. Northampton is no more dreary than any other town and has some gems well above the average town. I would not buy this book based upon my extensive local knowledge of Northamptonshire churches.

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