This lavish book reveals our ecclesiastical buildings in all their extraordinary diversity, beautifully pictured and described for the general reader. Ranges from humble abbeys and priories where a handful of monks and friars lived in pious solitude, to the most spectacular and magnificent cathedrals. Beautifully illustrated with fine-quality historical photographs from the world famous Francis Frith Collection. Read about monastery routine, the monks' daily life, what they ate, how their heads were shaved, and what they did for recreation. Also the parts of an abbey, medieval masons and plumbers, and the various building styles. Take a journey back in time and view our abbeys, priories and cathedrals as they were before modern-day restoration tidied them, some ruinous and romantically swathed in creeper. Quotations from celebrated writers, poets and travellers down the ages offer impressions of how our ecclesiastical buildings were viewed by previous generations. Fascinating anecdotes include Malmesbury's flying monk, the Lincoln Imp, Alice in Wonderland and Ripon Cathedral, and Winchester's heroic diver.