This week, we have selected some of Britain's most intriguing churches.
Church decoration was once more flamboyant in Britain, with painted plaster, statues and pillars embellishing religious buildings. Time, fashion, the Reformation, and Puritanism erased much of that, but a few Medieval church decorations still survive. One such is Coventry's "Doom" painting.
If you visit the village of Normanton on the eastern shore of Rutland Water, you will see a very odd sight. The church there appears to be floating on the surface of the reservoir.
The Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, near the village of Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, is a Grade I listed building and among the oldest largely intact Christian churches in England - dating from 660–662. It is in an isolated spot, in the flat countryside beyond the village.
Dating from 1185, the Temple Church in central London was once the English headquarters of the legendary Knights Templar, and the site of their mysterious initiation ceremonies. Since the downfall of the Templars in 1307, it has been regarded as the church of the legal profession, whose offices are concentrated in the surrounding area.
One of only three surviving bridge chapels in England, the Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin is a fascinating Grade I listed building. It is located in the city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire on the medieval bridge over the River Calder.
The Church of St. Dunstan-in-the-East was originally built in about 1100, and, after being rebuilt following severe damage in the Great Fire of 1666, it was decimated by the Blitz in 1941. Now, its ruins provide a secluded and charming secret garden, tucked away near Lower Thames Street in the City of London, halfway between the Tower and London Bridge.
