There are many sources of information about places of worship. These vary according to the denomination or faith, age and location of your building. In this section we have suggested a few of the most useful places to start, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.
Where to start?
Don’t reinvent the wheel! Explore what do you have access to already.
If your building has been changed recently, it is likely that some form of statement of significance or heritage statement was submitted as part of the permissions process. Do ask your local buildings officer, or planning authority whether they can share these with you if you can’t locate them online via the secular planning system, or your own faith group’s system or permissions portal. This could save you considerable work, and even if it doesn’t cover all of the building, setting, fixtures and fittings in detail, it will probably signpost you to relevant sources of information.
Understanding significance
Historic England has developed a range of resources which are a great starting point to understanding the significance of your place of worship:
- https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/dlsg-places-worship/
- https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/caring-for-heritage/places-of-worship/research/
- https://historicengland.org.uk/research/current/discover-and-understand/faith-and-commemoration/
Is your building listed?
If your building is Grade I, II* or II, and/or is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument, you can look up its designation via Historic England’s National Heritage List for listed buildings and scheduled monuments, parks and gardens:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ (also linked within the Online Creation Tool).
The level of detail contained in the listing can vary in quality, depending on when the listing was made, and whether it has been updated recently. It will usually contain further references to what are called ‘secondary sources’ , that is other publications which may talk about your building.
The Pevsner Architectural guides
All counties have Pevsner Architectural Guides which provide a village by village, or town by town walking tour guide to historic standing buildings. They are only available in print, but most local libraries and bookshops have them and many have been updated in recent years. Many places of worship are included in them as key historic buildings within their locality, including those which may have been converted from other uses, faiths or denominations . They include non-listed building as well as listed buildings.
Victoria County History (available via British History Online (BHO)
The Victoria County History (VCH) volumes were produced as guides to the history of local areas and so are most useful for researching historic (primarily Christian) places of worship. They have been digitised and can be accessed via British History Online:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/
and you can find out which volume is most relevant for you here: https://www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history
The Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England (RCHM(E)) and Wales
If you are working in a city or town, or a few regions (e.g. Cambridgeshire), do also check whether there is an RCHME volume available. These very detailed studies of surviving buildings made during the second half of the 20th century are also available via British History online. They usually include historic parish churches (Anglican and Roman Catholic), and historic buildings of other denominations and faiths, but have a mid-20th century cut-off date.
Guidebooks
Many Christian, principally Anglican, places of worship have local guidebooks which provide visitors with a background history to the church and guided tour of features of interest. These can vary in quality and detail, and are not always referenced, so it’s helpful to cross-check these against other sources of information if you can.
Primary sources
Primary sources – which can be the original records produced by faith groups survive in their original form in a range of national, regional and local archives, including dedicated ecclesiastical or religious archives.
It’s important to understand why these sources were created and why they might help you better understand your place of worship. They can include records of the construction, alteration, restoration and conservation of buildings, burial grounds. They can also include the records of permissions given by the denominational and secular authorities for these alterations. Not all faith groups require places of worship to keep or retain all the records produced at the time, so the further back in time you go, the more varied the archive might be.
The best national resource to start with is The National Archives (TNA) DISCOVERY catalogue:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
The strength of this archive is that it not only links you to TNA’s catalogue and digitised records, but also collates many, many local and regional archive collections, and links you out to those archives directly. You can also link out to the national newspaper archive online , which can be a very helpful source for dates for opening of buildings or the launch or completion of past projects.
Local archives and societies
Alongside national archives there are many regional archives, county and local record offices and libraries, and local societies who have undertaken their own research. Many early records were translated and transcribed by local record societies in the 19th and 20th centuries. These have not always been digitised, so sometimes it can be useful to locate your local society and explore what they have available. Their websites and catalogues can vary greatly, but you will usually find them delighted to hear from teachers and students wanting to access their research.
Dedicated church history and archaeology societies include:
- The Society for Church Archaeology - https://www.churcharchaeology.org/
- The Ecclesiastical History Society - https://ecclesiasticalhistorysociety.com/
- The Ecclesiological Society - https://www.ecclsoc.org.uk/
Specialist Societies
There are several specialist societies which focus on a particular historic period, or type pf building. Some are ‘statutory consultees’ on permissions applications, so getting their input and advice on the significance of your building or its fittings before you make plans to change anything will help you to be aware of how important what you have is. They will usually give advice for free and may offer to visit your building. You can find out more about them at JCNAS.