Forgotten Churches - by Luke Sherlock (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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, 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.

Review Quotes

'This is a beautiful book of green footpaths, cool shadows and sunbeams through stained-glass: a lovingly crafted portal to a precious, precarious inheritance.'

'A truly lovely collaboration between writer and artist; born of expertise, skill and shared passion for these "forgotten churches", and the treasures of craft, knowledge and memory that they hold.'

'A perfect combination of text and image working together to convey a sense of exploration, discovery and fascination with England's past...Doing for the English church what Robert Macfarlane and others have done for personal Nature writing.'

'Beautifully written and illustrated, Forgotten Churches makes me want to embark upon small pilgrimages to all the wonderful places in its pages.'

About the Author

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.