100 Churches 100 Years

Following on from 100 Buildings 100 Years and 100 Houses 100 Years, this book features 100 churches built since 1914, showing the development of modern church architecture in Britain. They include some of the most iconic buildings of the period, from Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral of 1962 to Giles Gilbert Scott’s Liverpool Cathedral in 1978. Alongside the more famous churches, there is the abandoned brutalist St Peter’s Seminary of 1966 and more recently built churches, such as the light-filled Bishop Edward King Chapel of 2013. The book features churches, mosques and synagogues, and the featured architects include George Pace, Eric Gill and Frederick Gibberd.

The book also includes essays about prolific architecture practices, particular aspects of the buildings such as stained glass, twentieth-century fixtures and fittings, and the art and artefacts found in the churches, and influence of European architects such as Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto on the modern churches in the book. The texts are written by leading design and architectures historians including Elain Harwood, Alan Powers and Clare Price.

Beautiful photography throughout showcases the very best of British church design, whether it is the minimal symmetry of a timber-framed altar, or light streaming in through a multi-coloured stained glass panel.

Author Biography

The Twentieth Century Society is a British charity that campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. They provide support and advice to architects and planning authorities to protect the best twentieth-century architecture and design, whether through listing or sympathetic development and management. In 2023, the society launched a campaign to protect Britain’s few remaining cooling towers.