This fourth volume completes the series of inventories on Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses carried out by the RCHME - Central England (published 1986), South-west England (1991), Northern England (1994). This volume focuses on the east of England from the Channel to the Humber and encompasses the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, Essex, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex. Each entry includes a short history and description of the building, many with illustrations or photographs.

Covers:- Berkshire-Cornwall-Isles of Scilly-Devonshire-Dorset-Hampshire-Isle of Wight-Somerset-Wiltshire.

This book provides a fascinating account of the architecture and historical development of the Quaker meeting house from the foundation of the movement to the twenty-first century. The Quaker meeting house is a distinctive building type used as a place of worship by members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Starting with buildings of the late-seventeenth century, the book maps how the changing beliefs and practices of Quakers over the last 350 years have affected the architecture of the meeting house. The buildings considered are illustrated, predominantly in colour, and are from England, Scotland and Wales, with some consideration of colonial American examples. The book commences with an introduction which provides an accessible account of the early history of Quakerism and it concludes with a consideration of whether there is a Quaker architectural style and of what it might consist.

Nonconformity flourished in the north of England from the 17th century. Great preachers found refuge in the area, new denominations arose in the growing population and many an early meeting-house remains as witness to an age of turbulence and enthusiasm. The history of more than three centuries is visible in the range of nonconformist buildings explored in this volume - from the earliest Puritan chapel to the magnificent edifices raised by 19th-century manufacturing moguls. This volume presents a full record of buildings. Some still stand, some have been rebuilt and in others the process of rebuilding continues. Sadly buildings have been lost, but the breadth of knowledge contained in this volume is an encouragement to campaign for the survival of this diverse aspect of English architecture.

Protestant Nonconformity, the umbrella term for Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Unitarians, belongs specifically to the religious history of England and Wales. Initially the result of both unwillingness to submit to the State's interference in Christian life and a dissatisfaction with the progress of reform in the English Church, Nonconformity has been primarily motivated by theological concern, ecclesial polity, devotion and the nurture of godliness among the members of the church. Alongside such churchly interests, Nonconformity has also made a profound contribution to debates about the role of the State, to family life and education, culture in general, trade and industry, the development of philanthropy and charity, and the development of pacifism. In this volume, for the first time, Nonconformity and the breadth of its activity come under the expert scrutiny of a host of recognised scholars. The result is a detailed and fascinating account of a movement in church history that, while currently in decline, has made an indelible mark on social, political, economic and religious life of the two nations.

The essays contained in this volume examine the particular religious experiences of women within a remarkably vibrant and formative era in British religious history. Scholars from the disciplines of history, literary studies and theology assess women's contributions to renewal, change and reform; and consider the ways in which women negotiated institutional and intellectual boundaries. The focus on women's various religious roles and responses helps us to understand better a world of religious commitment which was not separate from, but also not exclusively shaped by, the political, intellectual and ecclesiastical disputes of a clerical elite. As well as deepening our understanding of both popular and elite religious cultures in this period, and the links between them, the volume re-focuses scholarly approaches to the history of gender and especially the history of feminism by setting the British writers often characterised as 'early feminists' firmly in their theological and spiritual traditions.