Can you identify the following churches?

A photograph of a church, perhaps taken in Victoria's reign, possibly either in Flintshire (maybe near Mold or Buckley), or Cumberland (perhaps in the Maryport/Dovenby/Little Broughton area). © David Knowles.

Another un-posted card, this one provides no clues at all.

This Victorian silver box belonging to Peter Cameron has a church on the lid. Note the tower design. Can you name it?

Church, West Midlands??. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. A church with an unusual spire - and the sender has written this - "I daresay you recognize the old church, although they have omitted to print the name....". The addressee was in Birmingham, so possibly the church is in the Midlands. Although originally identified as St. Augustine in Dudley, it certainly isn't this, since a photo has now been sent in, and it can be seen on the Dudley page. Does anyone have further thoughts?

A Victorian watercolour. Can you help Geoff Upton with the church's identification?

Two from Ray Harrington-Vail. The first, now solved, is of a church porch, in a photo dated 1968. Although the caption on the photo indicates it as being Lavenham, Ray thinks it isn't. He's right. Janet Gimber has identified it as being St. Peter and St. Paul, at Clare. Link. The second, of a church interior, could perhaps be in Kent or Surrey.

Standing behind the Baptist Church in Crayford, Kent, is this building. Can you identify it? 177 TQ 511 748. © Dave Westrap.

This one's going to be very difficult, but worth the effort! Simon Aldworth has asked for help in identifying the church in some wedding photos. Although they are in a wedding album, in the family's possession, he doesn't know the people involved, who are named as "Russie and Jack", and who seem to have been married April 29th, 1933. The firm of photographers is still in existence, but they have had no luck in finding out any details either. The church is not shown clearly, but the windows may be identifiable to someone who knows the church well. Photo 1. Photo2. The next two show groups walking up the churchyard path, and standing against what appears to be the churchyard railings. The buildings opposite suggest a large town, which might tie in with the photographer who was London-based. Photo 3. Photo 4.

Paul Way is seeking help with the location of a church in a painting. It was handed down by a relative who lived in the Hove area, but of course it may not be from that area. The artist is unknown, but it probably dates from around 1850. Close-up.

Roger Hopkins found a box of Victorian negatives, and the only clue to the whereabouts of the photos was one negative labelled "Moortown Church". Despite his searches through the numerous Moortown's in Britain and Ireland, he's been unable to identify the church. Can you help? Another one from the box is this church entrance. And lastly, an interior view. Either may or may not be of the same church.

Rescued from destruction by Ian Lewis, these three photos have no clues at all to their location. Can you place them? 1. 2. 3. Another one from Ian shows the unveiling of a war memorial. It may possibly be in Cumbria, but can you identify it?

Another difficult one - a small church, not seen in its entirety. Probably from around 1932. From the Colin Waters Collection.

David Read is keen find a name for this church, photographed in 1971. Probably in the Yorkshire Dales, or the neighbouring areas of Cumbria, David thinks that it might possibly have an altar brought from an Oxford College.

Elizabeth bought this picture of a church, believing it to be in West Suffolk, but it proved not to be the church it was advertised as. Can you identify it?

This sketch of a church has recently come into Bob Sendall's possession. It's possibly in the Bucks/Beds/Herts border area. Can you identify it?

Solved

Aldeburgh Moot Hall, Suffolk. Identified by Paul Norman - thank you Paul. Julie Reading thought it might be a church on account of the apparent cross at the far end of the roof.

Alston. Ian Thirlwell had an old family photo he wanted identified. The sign next to the path says "Ladies Only", and the shop window awning has "J. Dawson", plus some other indeterminate text on it. May possibly be in Cumbria, as another photo from the same collection showed Alston church. Several correspondents came up with the same answer - it's Alston Town Hall.

Arksey - see Sprotbrough below.

Ashburton, Devon, St. Andrew. Identified by the indefatigable Janet Gimber from an old postcard with no identification clues.

Astley Church - postmarked Manchester. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Thanks to Alan Nixon for his probable identification of this as St. Stephen, Astley, Greater Manchester. It was burnt down 18th June 1961, and replaced by another nearby.

Barnham Church. No postmark. A close-up of the church. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Thanks to Noel Walley for identifying this as St. Mary the Virgin at Barnham in West Sussex.

Belvoir: An old postcard with the unhelpful title "Distant View Of Church". A close-up. The card has "Belvoir" hand-written in pencil on the back, but no other inscriptions or postmarks. Aidan Thomson has identified this as All Saints, Knipton. This photo confirms the identification.

Broadstairs, "St. Peter's Church, from the Broadstairs Road" was obviously in Kent. Indeed, Colin Waters, whose collection this old (1865) engraving is in, added further that it was in the Isle of Thanet, but where exactly? Thanks to Thomas Curtis who identified it as St. Peter-in-Thanet, at Broadstairs.

Crosby Garrett, Cumbria. Peter Amsden's Unknown church, probably in south Cumbria or North Yorkshire has been identified by Peter Marshall as Crosby Garret in Cumbria, St. Andrew.

Eydon, Northants., St. Nicholas - identified by Janet Gimber. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection.

Gretton, Gloucs., Christ Church. Robin Harrison in Canada was trying to identify this church. The text "J. Burton, Birmingham" is printed at the bottom. A rather handsome church - and thanks to Mark Turbott for identifying it.

Hawkshead, Cumbria. D. Smith had a photo of a church he wanted identified. Thanks to Ian Lewis for naming it as Hawkshead Church, Cumbria.

Llandaff Cathedral, severely damaged following a fire caused by bombing. This photo shows Canadian Gary Martin's grandfather, who was stationed in England for five years during WWII, and later spent a little time on the continent after D-Day. Thanks to Tim Hollinghurst for identifying it.

Leigh, Wesleyan Church. This old postcard is unused, so there is no indication of which of the several Leighs this might be. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection.  Thanks to Alan Nixon again for identifying this as the now demolished King Street Methodist Church in Leigh, Greater Manchester. The site was re-used for the Kingsleigh Methodist Church.

Lutton, St. Peter. Thanks to Nigel Brooks for identifying this as the Northamptonshire Lutton.

Maesteg, St. David. Thanks to Janet Gimber for positively identifying this church as being in Maesteg, on Talbot St. However, she was less than 100% certain of the dedication, and it was tentatively identified as St. David.
One-time resident Geoff Thomas has confirmed that the church is St. David, and the large building to the right is the former Miner's Institute. He has also advised that the Maesteg Council web-site has an identical photo, and dates it to 1880. Heavily processed to produce a reasonable image, this postcard was posted in 1905. From the Bulman Collection. Pennington Church - but which one of the several candidates? From an old postcard, Bulman Collection.
Although previously identified as the Pennington near Leigh in Greater Manchester, Andrew Ross has subsequently pointed out the similarity of construction to St. Mark's at Pennington near Lymington in Hampshire. Although taken from a different angle, I'm convinced that this identification is correct.

Ringstead(?) Church. The text on the postcard isn't clear, but Ringstead is probably right. As above, of the several candidates, which one is it? The postmark offers no help as it is unreadable. Many thanks to James Fielding for confirming that this is the Ringstead in Norfolk. The church is therefore St. Andrew. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link.

Sprotborough. Although this old postcard (from Kevin Gordon's Collection) is clearly marked "Arksey Church", it bears no similarity to Arksey church in South Yorkshire, and neither he nor I could find another Arksey. That indefatigueable detective Janet Gimber has identified the church as Sprotbrough in South Yorkshire, so this is a faulty postcard.

St. John, Shildon, County Durham. This old postcard (posted in 1908), is from Andrew McGarrigle's Collection. The building to the right of the church has a sign reading "York City and County Banking Ltd." There were no other clues, but Tony Preston advised that the YCCB ultimately became the property of the HSBC bank, and he put me in touch with Sara Kinsey, archivist at the HSBC. She identified it as Shildon, which allowed me to find the appended link, which named the church as St. John. My thanks to Tony and Sara for their help! Link.

Shirley Church. From the postmark (Birmingham), this is probably the Shirley neat Solihull, but can you identify it?
This has been identified (thanks to John Clements) as St. James the Great. There are some small differences between the postcard and the photo on the church website (see the tower pinnacles, for example), but there are enough similarities to make the identification certain. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection.

St. Margaret's Church. This has now been identified by Martha Appleberry as St. Margaret in Altrincham, Greater Manchester (Cheshire as was). From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link1. Link2.

Robin O'Neill was looking for help in identifying the location of the graveyard in this old photo. He knows a relative is buried there, but doesn't know the exact location. It might be somewhere near Kirkby Stephen or Brough in Cumbria, but might be in the larger area of Lancashire, Cumbria or Durham. This graveyard has been identified as the Methodist Cemetery at Hawes.

Where is St. German's church? The only clue is that the postcard was posted, possibly from Horsham, to an address in Petersfield. This distinctive church shouldn't be too difficult to place. Janet Gimber has pointed out that it's St. Germanus' church in St. Germans in Cornwall. From an old postcard (franked 1907), Bulman Collection.

This distinctive Irish Church shouldn't be too hard to place. The postcard title is "St. Patrick's Church, Donegal", but is this Donegal town? The postcard is unused. Thanks to Janet Gimber for confirming that it is indeed in Donegal town. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection.

Mike Dodd has an old family photograph of a church which he thinks may be in Cheshire, possibly near Winsford. Can you identify it? Aidan Thomson thinks that this is probably St. Chad at Over, near Winsford. This photo is indeed very similar, and I think this identification is almost certainly correct. Nigel Brooks has confirmed that it is indeed St. Chad, and provided this link.

This unused postcard is titled "Forest Church, Horsham" and hand-written on the back is "Sussex". There is a Horsham in the current county of West Sussex, but also ones in Worcestershire and in Norfolk. Can you identify this church, and give it a Saint? Janet Gimber has confirmed that this is indeed the one in West Sussex, but hadn't been able to find a dedication. Thanks to Janet, and to Dan Gregory for identifying it as St. John at Doomsday Green.

This old postcard is of Whitchurch, but which one? Janet Gimber has located this church at Little Stanmore, Greater London - the church is St. Lawrence Whitchurch.

Brian Curtis (thanks Brian) has identified the building on this old postcard, which had to be rather heavily processed to obtain a reasonable image. It's not a church, but the tower of Magdalen College in Oxford, from St. John's quad.

An old postcard of Blackamoor Church. Janet Gimber has located a Blackamoor being part of Blackburn. Such limited information we've been able to find suggests that this is St. James, Lower Darwen, which was demolished in 1969. Definitive confirmation would be welcome!!

Fotheringhay, Northants, St. Mary. Originally thought to be perhaps in the Maghull area (Lancs.), this drawing of a church once belonged to an ancestor of Ken Edwards. Aidan Thomson said that the building, and the situation on the ground with the river, bore a great similarity to Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire. Further work by Janet Gimber means that this identification is now a certainty. The drawing is thought to be about 180 years old.

A church with a handsome spire, but no identification clues. The indefatigable Janet Gimber has identified this church as St. Peter & St. Paul, Kettering.

This grade II listed building was (understandably) suspected of being a church. It stands in Bexley (Greater London) and is close to the A2 at 177 TQ 472 742. © Dave Westrap. I'm grateful to Charles Amis and Janet Gimber for advising that despite it being known locally as Chapel House, it has never been a church. The spire was added to a cottage to make the view from the then new Danson House more interesting - this was in the 1770's. The view was obstructed in the 1960's when the A2 was made a dual carriageway. There's even a large stone in the garden which can be mistaken for a tombstone, but is in fact a cover for a well.

Thanks to Michael Royalton-Kisch has identifying this church as St. Margaret at Leigh Delamere in Wiltshire. Original entry read as follows - "This old church postcard had nothing to indicate the name of the church, but someone has written on the back "This is our church St. Margaret". Unfortunately it was never posted. Can you place St. Margaret?"

Mytton Church. Janet Gimber has identified this church as All Hallows, Mitton, Lancashire. Thank you Janet! From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link.

Stoke Church. There are dozens of places either called Stoke, or Stoke something. Which is this one? Janet Gimber has placed this church at Stoke in Devon, St. Nectan. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link1. Link2.

The postcard of Stebbings Church had been on the website for rather a long time, listed under Stebbing, Essex. The Rev. Tim Goodbody, of Stebbing, has been in touch to say that this isn't his church. I listed it under Stebbing rather than Stebbings because I couldn't find any trace of a Stebbings place-name in the UK, and under Essex, because I could find only one Stebbing. We have Sue Hedger to thank for solving this mystery - it is in fact Stubbings, in Berkshire (St. James the Less). Sue says she isn't aware of a name change, so the error has to be lain at the door of the postcard manufacturer for getting it wrong! From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link1. Link2 (See photos under "Remembrance Sunday").

St. Margaret, with a squat tower. The postcard was written from Cragg End in 1907, and perhaps posted from Oakworth (the frank is unclear). There is an Oakworth in West Yorkshire. In fact this church is St. Margaret of Antioch at St. Margaret's at Cliffe, in Kent. Thanks to Michael Bourne for identifying it. From an old postcard, Bulman Collection. Link.

Another postcard view - a church with a distinctive spire, and possibly of flint - maybe East Anglia? Rick Williams has suggested Worth in East Sussex, and he has supplied a photo, from a different angle to the mystery church. At first glance, the spires certainly look similar. However, as pointed out by Janet Gimber, the spire is in line with the central axis of the church, and the mystery church has the spire off to one side. Another problem is with the small features just above the base of the spire in the mystery church, absent from Worth, and another possible problem is the windows just below the base of the spire, which (assuming the usual pattern), are absent from the mystery church. Any other suggestions? Thanks to John Vigar for putting this one to bed. It's St. Mary the Virgin at Fordwich in Kent. There's already another old postcard available on the Kent page, and despite the different viewpoints, it clearly is the same church.

Winterbourne, Gloucs. Susan Sinclair believed it was in the Frampton Cotterell area. Janet Gimber has identified it as the Ebenezer Chapel at Winterbourne, on York Gardens and Court Road (just a mile or two from Frampton Cotterell). Janet advises that it is in a parlous condition. © Susan Sinclair.

A postcard view of a church and graveyard, now identified as St. Mary, Newchurch-in-Pendle, Lancashire, thanks to Bryan McCahey. Link1. Link2.

Tanya Rundle wanted help in identifying this church, which she thought was probably in the Salcombe (Devon) area. She was right, as Janet Gimber has identified it as Thurlestone, Devon, All Saints.

Jeff Holmes had been looking for help in identifying a church from un-labelled photos of 25 years or so ago. He's managed to solve this one himself - it's St. Andrew at Kimbolton, in Cambridgeshire. Link.

Wych Cross, East Sussex. At first glance this church looks a bit like Whippingham on the Isle of Wight, but it isn't. Diana Bond had asked for  help in identifying it. Paul Smith has advised that Wych Cross Church, which was dedicated to St. Richard de Wych, although never consecrated, was built in 1866 and demolished in 1975.