Northamptonshire is a happy hunting ground for church crawlers, being particularly famous for its numerous wonderful spires. There are dozens of major churches, ranging from the internationally important work at Brixworth and Earls Barton through to Sir Ninian Comper’s early twentieth-century masterpiece in Wellingborough, with all periods and styles in between well represented. Church monuments and stained glass also make a strong contribution to the pleasures awaiting visitors. The county’s geology is crucial to the appearance of its buildings: there are at least three main different local stones, and many varieties within these categories, all with their different shades and individual characters. In this book church historian David Gouldstone presents a selection of the county’s best churches, pointing out special features and capturing what it is that makes them special, as well as relating them to their historical periods and highlighting the stories of the people associated with the buildings.

This fascinating picture of an important part of the history of Northamptonshire over the centuries will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting this attractive and varied English county.