In this engaging lecture, Dr Simon Bradley draws on three decades of work with the iconic Pevsner Architectural Guides to explore how the series has described England's parish churches. The revised volumes published since the 1980s have been once more thorough in terms of research and fieldwork and more generous in terms of length, allowing fuller and more detailed coverage of buildings which Pevsner often had to cover extremely briskly. Authors of more recent volumes have also benefited from ever-expanding access to online records and the arrival of digital photography. As well as an editorial overview, Bradley offers insights from his own contributions to the revised series, including the county volumes for Cambridgeshire and Oxford and South-east Oxfordshire. His approach combines scholarly depth with an eye for detail, bringing clarity and accessibility to even the most complex architectural stories. This talk will appeal to anyone interested in how churches and their furnishings are understood and enjoyed.

A bit more about our speaker: After studying at Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art, Dr Simon Bradley took his interests further as joint editor of the celebrated Pevsner Architectural Guides, to which he has contributed the revised volumes on Cambridgeshire, Oxford and south east Oxfordshire, Westminster, and the City of London. His other books include several volumes on British railway history, and he has also written for the TLS, London Review of Books, The Spectator, The Guardian, The Evening Standard and Architectural History. Simon has also recently become a member of CCT's specialist Conservation Committee which guides our work and conservation decisions.

Vikki Jenner, our host for this evening, will begin the evening by exploring Church of Christ the Consoler, Skelton‑cum‑Newby in North Yorkshire. Pevsner cites this particular church in the Ripon volume in the ‘Buildings of England’ guide. You can find it in the1967 edition, p. 484. It is a Victorian Gothic Revival church in Early English style by William Burges and Grade I listed, vested in the CCT on 14 December 1991.

Our churches cost on average £2,500 per year to keep them clean, carry out conservation work, conduct maintenance checks, and ensure they are in a safe condition for visitors to enjoy. Please help us to keep our churches open by donating a gift of £5 or £10. You can donate quickly and easily to any of the churches mentioned today by texting the numbers below or visiting our donation page. Your generous donation will help us to protect a beautiful part of local and national heritage. You can make a donation to these churches by texting SKN to 70191 to give £5, or 70191 to donate £10. Or donate via this link here: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/get-involved/donation. Thank you.