The Churches of Britain and Ireland

Please be aware that CD's of photographs copied from this website have been offered for sale on E-Bay. These copies have been made without the knowledge and permission of myself, or the many contributors to the site, and as such contravene the copyright laws. E-Bay removed the item in response to my complaint, but I would appreciate being informed of any further sightings of this nature.

Introduction

My first website, Images of Cumbria, devoted to the history of Cumbria, was developed following contact with fellow amateur genealogists from all over the world who had roots in that most beautiful of English counties. Of all the things people wanted to see, the most requested were pictures of the churches where their ancestors were baptised, married and buried. It occurred to me that there isn't a central resource for finding photographs of the churches of Britain and Ireland - this web-site aims to rectify this omission. And as the site has expanded, another purpose has become apparent - to serve as a record of churches and chapels which are fast being converted to other use, or are about be, or have been demolished.

The ultimate aim is to have at least one photo of every existing church in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands, and where possible, photos or artwork of churches no longer in existence. And the site isn't restricted to the historic parish churches - photos of the "churches" of all religions, denominations and sects are welcome.

There are currently about 17,700 churches on the web-site, and I have to express my sincere thanks to the small army of church enthusiasts who have kindly allowed me to use their photographs, and without whom this would have been a far less comprehensive effort. Thank you one and all.

If you too would like to become involved, here's how you can help -

• Take a picture of your local church. Note that photographs of all churches and of all denominations and religions are welcome, not just the historic parish churches.
• "Adopt" an area and cover all of its churches.
• Identify photos of unknown churches, and advise about the current status of churches featured here from old photos or postcards.
• Advise of web-sites with further information on the churches, or of missing dedications for churches already featured here.
• On a web-site of this scope, there are bound to be errors, for which I apologise in advance, but I want to hear about them so they can be corrected.

Please adopt a cautious and courteous attitude when photographing old churches or chapels converted to domestic use - the sight of a stranger outside the home with a camera can cause alarm to the occupant.

Before sending your digital photos or scanned photos to myself (address at the bottom of the page) please read the FAQ page, where copyright issues are addressed. DO NOT send in photographs taken from the web, or from books, unless you are certain about their copyright status.

Incidentally, just because a church is already represented here doesn't mean that other photos of it won't be welcome; if you think that your photo has something to offer, send it in, though I won't guarantee to use it.

Regarding copyright - in every case, the copyright remains with the original photographer; anyone wishing to use any of the photos from this site, for whatever purpose, should contact the undersigned, and I will put you in touch with the copyright owner if I can.

Now to the photographs - they can be found by looking through the Index, which lists place-names by county and alphabetically. There is also a page for photographs of churches where the location is unknown. Please contact me if you know where they are.

I occasionally receive comments that places are in the "wrong county". See here for my reasoning.

Each entry in the indices has a link to a photo or photos of the church, and where possible another external link to further information about the church. Towns and villages with several churches are given their own sub-index. Where known, the dedication is included, as is the Ordnance Survey (OS) grid reference which is preceded by the Landranger map number. For those unfamiliar with the latter, full instructions for their use can be found on each OS map. Thus Adderbury in Oxfordshire is given as 151 SP 471 354 - map number 151 and grid reference SP 471 354. As grid references can also be found on-line now, the map number will often be omitted. Some entries may also have (O) - normally open, (C) - normally closed, or (K) key available.

Recommendations for further reading are to be found in the bibliography. There is also a Useful Links page, with URL's of many county, denominational and other church related sites.

These is also a Discussion Forum, where anything relating to past and present church buildings can be discussed (but not religion!). Please note that Registration can take several hours - I can't be at the computer all day! The Forum can only be as good as its members and their contributions, so enrol soon!!

I occasionally get requests for help in obtaining photographs of churches, or for help with a little history for a church. I can't help with photographs, as all the ones I've taken or received from contributors will be on the website (except for ones in the "in-box", waiting to be added). I can sometimes find a website giving a church's history, or I might have an appropriate book, and will obviously pass on the information. But usually I can offer nothing - so I've started a new page, Questions, Questions, passing these requests on to site visitors.

Contents Summary Page.

You can use the following search box to search this site, or the wider web.

27 January 2010

© Steve Bulman