The English Parish Church : an Account of the Chief Building Types & of Their Materials During Nine Centuries / by J. Charles Cox

Excerpt from The English Parish Church: An Account of the Chief Building Types of Their Materials During Nine Centuries
It seems necessary to write a few words as to the aim and object of this book. It is an endeavour, however imperfectly accomplished, to put into plain language the origin, development, and aims of the old English Parish Church, more especially in the country districts. Notwithstanding the wear of time, the ravages of civil war, the fierce flames of religious bigotry, the devastating consequences of contemptuous neglect, or the ill-judged zeal of reconstruction, our ancient churches remain the envy of other parts of Christendom for their frequency, their innate beauty, their marvellous adaptability to surroundings, and more especially for the way they reflect the life and devotion of successive generations of our forefathers.
The study and examination of the story of our progenitors, as evidenced in the fabrics they have left behind them, is a fascinating pursuit, and it is nowadays being followed up after a more intelligent fashion and by increasing numbers. It is hoped that these pages will prove to be of some real assistance to those desirous of gaining knowledge as to the central and most important old building of the vast majority of England's innumerable parishes. Where there is one old castle, or even fragments of its component parts left standing, or the remains of a single ancient manor-house, there are scores of extant churches, whose very walls breathe of the spirit and hopes that animated our forefathers for a thousand and odd years. Doubtless, as time goes on, we are immeasurably their superiors in general taste and refinement, as well as in our science and our application of science to mechanical arts.
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