Published in collaboration with the National Churches Trust, this fascinating book is a sumptuous and authoritative photographic history of churches in England, as told through the objects inside them.

Arranged chronologically from the Roman era to the present day, it covers a huge range of church objects including ornate fonts, beautiful stained glass windows, carved bench ends and rood screens, precious silverware and even church organs, and each piece has a fascinating story to tell. Within these pages, you'll discover:

• The Hinton St Mary mosaic in Dorset, created in the early 4th century AD and showing the first depiction of Jesus Christ in Britain.

• The full Norman repertoire of abstract geometrical forms displayed in the Tower Arch, St John’s Church, Northampton.

• The Becket pilgrims represented in glowing medieval stained glass in Canterbury Cathedral.

• Exquisitely carved misericords showing scenes from spiritual life through the year in Ripple church, Worcestershire.

• Destruction and survival through the Dissolution of the Monasteries at Croyland, Lincolnshire.

• Works of art in glass by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones in Brampton, Cumbria.

• Dame Elizabeth Frink’s intimate 'Walking Madonna' statue outside Salisbury Cathedral.

With all of this and many other glorious treasures of England’s Christian history, it’s the perfect book for architecture enthusiasts, countryside explorers, dedicated churchgoers and anyone interested in the ongoing story of English churches.

An intelligent selection of works of art, artefacts, architecture, monuments, stained glass sculpture.’

Matthew Byrne has been exploring, studying and photographing English churches for nearly 40 years. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1988 for his work in architectural photography, and is the author of several books including The Treasures of English Churches, Church Fonts and English Parish Churches and Chapels. He lives in Merseyside.