Rice's Church Primer

Had seen this recommended somewhere, so bought as a gift for my partner who’s a conservator and loves history, architecture and in my words certainly not his… all things old and decorative. He’s been taking it everywhere with him and has commented several times how good it is

Nicely presented and very easy to read book on the basics of church architecture from all periods in England. The first section - Grammar - shows you the basics of church construction, with drawings of the main elements - know your hammer beam roof from your King Post, and your Norman arch from your ogival. The second section - Vocab - goes into periods of building starting with Saxon and Norman and ending with modern. This is the largest section of the book and is lavishly illustrated with drawings, some of them faintly humorous and well worth looking at in detail (for example one of them includes a small figure of a chap quietly having a pee against the wall while his dog waits). Section 3 - Exemplars -shows examples of churches in chronological order. Section 4 - Maps - shows rough sketch maps of church locations, using the old county boundaries - as the author says, not very Google Map friendly, but the villages are easy to find. Section 5 - Monuments - follows, showing a brief outlin of the changing styles of monuments found on the interior; it does not cover the churchyard. There follows a brief section on glass and another even briefer on interior fittings like fonts, pews, pulpits. An index brings up the rear. Altogether a nice little book for those who like to visit churches as historic buildings but feel they don't know much about them.

As ever Matthew Rice illustrates and writes superbly. Has quadrupled me interest in the architecture of our wonderful churches Have bought a copy for my Vicar too!

Having an interest in the subject matter, but being very much a novice of the same, I found the book highly informative and useful. Is is not however, (nor do I consider it to be intended as) an in depth examination, or technical journal, discussing the finer, exacting nuances of ecclesiastical architecture. The publication is well suited to its target audience, if you wish for something that covers this area in greater detail, look elsewhere.

This book has some absolutely beautiful drawings in it. I say this first because that's what I like most about the book!I bought this book after I saw it in a bookshop when I was looking for a book on church architecture. I am responsible for maintaining three grade I listed church buildings and I was looking for something that was simple and yet sufficiently detailed to give me a basic understanding of the technical architectural terms that are used to describe various parts of church buildings.I enjoyed the book so much that I bought it for two Quinquennial Inspecting Architects, and they were both delighted with it and enjoyed showing it to their colleagues.I'd wholeheartedly recommend this for anyone who is interested in church architecture.

Clearly written and illustrated.

This is such a nice book, even over and above its educational value it is such a treasure just to have and to look at. The illustrations are such a pleasure. Thank you, I may have to buy another for my sister-in-law who has just borrowed my copy.

lovely pen and ink and pencil drawings showing the tiny details you miss in a church. there is some text, but mostly the book has page after page of annotated drawings in a very informal style pointing out things to see and styles of church architecture. almost permanently on loan from my local library so i bought a copy!