Sustaining our churches and valuing heritage

CHURCH CRAWLING:
The Secret Lives and Hidden Stories of
England’s Churches
By Rachel Morley
Bodley Head. 416 pages. £22
ISBN 978 1 847 928 009

Church-crawling was a phrase originally coined by the former poet laureate, John Betjeman.

For him, there was apparently “no greater pleasure” than wandering from one church to another, exploring what he found there and drinking in their atmosphere. Betjeman went on to join with others to form the Friends of Friendless Churches, whose work is to rescue and repair redundant places of worship in England and Wales, and to care for and celebrate their rich architectural legacy and history.