A History of the English Parish
The Culture of Religion from Augustine to Victoria

A 'grass roots' cultural history of the English parish from the earliest times to Queen Victoria.

N. J. G. Pounds (Author)

9780521633512, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 January 2004

620 pages
24.7 x 18.8 x 3 cm, 1.087 kg

'As a history of the English parish Pounds' is indeed encyclopaedic. As a work of reference it will prove invaluable, and its concern with the materiality of religion makes it also a work of great relevance to archaeology.' Medieval Archaeology

Most writings on church history have been concerned mainly with church hierarchy, and with theology, liturgy and canon law. This book looks at the church 'from below', from the lowest stratum of its organisation - the parish - in which the church building is seen as the parishioners' handiwork and as a reflection of local popular culture. The book discusses in turn the origin and development of the system of precisely-defined parishes, their function - in terms of economics and personnel - and the church fabric which embodied the aspirations of parishioners, who saw the church more as an expression of their cultural and social hopes than as the embodiment of their faith. The book ends with the failure of the parish to meet all of its obligations - social, governmental and religious - from the late eighteenth century onwards.

List of illustrations
Abbreviations
Part I. The Origins of the Parochial System: 1. Church and parish
2. Rectors and vicars
3. The bounds of the parish
4. The urban parish
Part II. The Functions of the Parish: 5. The parish and its servants
6. The economics of the parish
7. The community and the parish
8. The parish and the church courts
9. The parish and popular culture
Part III: The Parish and its Church: 10. The parish: its church and churchyard
11. The fabric of the church: the priest's church
12. The people's church
Postscript.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX]