The Medieval Churches of the City of Norwich - published by HEART and designed and edited by East Publishing - reveals the city's compelling ecclesiastical set, celebrating the churches as medieval works of art, as valuable social documents and as ancient places of prayer. Author Nicholas Groves, an acknowledged authority on the subject, describes in rich detail the 31 surviving medieval churches in Norwich city centre, as well as many lost since the Reformation. Contemporary photography and fascinating archive material capture the churches' history, architecture, stained glass, monuments and other exquisite features. Many of the contemporary photographs were entries in HEART's medieval churches photography competition in 2009: they reflect the many ways the buildings are viewed and valued by local people today. Includes material from interviews by Christina Lister, who met people associated with each of the 31 churches. This new book is a follow-up to the award-winning and very popular Norwich 12 guidebook, published by HEART in 2008.

Norwich is an important city today, but in Medieval times it was our second city and a centre of government power. Here is its story.

A fascinating guide to decoding the secret language of the churches of England through the medieval carved markings and personal etchings found on our church walls from archaeologist Matthew Champion. 'Rare, lovely glimmers of everyday life in the Middle Ages.' -- The Sunday Times 'A fascinating and enjoyable read' -- ***** Reader review 'Superb' -- ***** Reader review 'Riveting' -- ***** Reader review 'Compelling, moving and fascinating' -- ***** Reader review ***************************************************************************************************** Our churches are full of hidden messages from years gone by and for centuries these carved writings and artworks have lain largely unnoticed. Having launched a nationwide survey to gather the best examples, archaeologist Matthew Champion shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships, prayers for good fortune, satirical cartoons, charms, curses, windmills, word puzzles, architectural plans and heraldic designs. Here are strange medieval beasts, knights battling unseen dragons, ships sailing across lime-washed oceans and demons who stalk the walls. Latin prayers for the dead jostle with medieval curses, builders' accounts and slanderous comments concerning a long-dead archdeacon. Strange and complex geometric designs, created to ward off the 'evil eye' and thwart the works of the devil, share church pillars with the heraldic shields of England's medieval nobility. Giving a voice to the secret graffiti artists of Medieval times, this engaging, enthralling and - at times - eye-opening book, with a glossary of key terms and a county-by-county directory of key churches, will put this often overlooked period in a whole new light.

The definitive work on church archaeology.

This volume explores the importance of Norwich as the second city of England for 500 years. It addresses two of the most ambitious Romanesque buildings in Europe: cathedral and castle, and illuminates the role of Norwich-based designers and makers in the region.

This volume of essays explores the interaction of Church and town in the medieval period in England. Two major themes structure the book. In the first part the authors explore the social and economic dimensions of the interaction; in the second part the emphasis moves to the spaces and built forms of towns and their church buildings. The primary emphasis of the essays is upon the urban activities of the medieval Church as a set of institutions: parish, diocese, monastery, cathedral. In these various institutional roles the Church did much to shape both the origin and the development of the medieval town. In exploring themes of topography, marketing and law the authors show that the relationship of Church and town could be both mutually beneficial and a source of conflict.

What happens when religious sites, objects and practices become cultural heritage? What are —religious or secular—sources of expertise and authority that validate and regulate heritage sites, objects and practices? As cultural heritage becomes an increasingly popular and influential frame, these questions arise in diverse and challenging manners. The question who controls, manages, and frames religious heritage, and how, arises with particular urgency. Case studies from Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom present an analysis of the paradoxes and challenges that arise when religious sites are transformed into heritage.

"The medieval stained glass of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, is the most important collection in a country rich in this medium. The glass is of exceptional quality and was painted in the city. It reflects the personal, religious and political interests in Norwich's urban elite, who were worshipping in the leading parish church of one of England's largest cities." "This illustrated volume reconstructs the glazing of much of the eastern arm of the church using extensive documentary and antiquarian evidence. The windows provide opportunities for the discussion of narrative, display and audience, and the glass is set in a local and national stylistic context. There is biographical information relating to all known Norwich glaziers from 1400 to the Reformation; this will constitute a invaluable resource for stained glass studies in the future. The reader will also find details of the documentary evidence for the furnishing and liturgy of St Peter Mancroft; transcripts of all the documents relating to the church's medieval glazing; and descriptions of panels from Mancroft now in other collections."--BOOK JACKET.

Shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards 2016! It has been estimated that over 90% of England's figurative medieval art was obliterated in the image destruction of the Reformation. Medieval angel roofs, timber structures with spectacular and ornate carvings of angels, with a peculiar preponderance in East Anglia, were simply too difficult for Reformation iconoclasts to reach. Angel roof carvings comprise the largest surviving body of major English medieval wood sculpture. Though they areboth masterpieces of sculpture and engineering, angel roofs have been almost completely neglected by academics and art historians, because they are inaccessible, fixed and challenging to photograph. 'The Angel Roofs of East Anglia' is the first detailed historical and photographic study of the region's many medieval angel roofs. It shows the artistry and architecture of these inaccessible and little-studied medieval artworks in more detail and clarity than ever before, and explains how they were made, by whom, and why. Michael Rimmer redresses the scholarly neglect and brings the beauty, craftsmanship and history of these astonishing medieval creations to the reader. The book also offers a fascinating new answer to the question of why angel roofs are so overwhelmingly an East Anglian phenomenon, but relatively rare elsewhere in the country.