Scroll down for:

- Historic parishes/parish churches in the British Isles and other parts of Europe;

- Parish Network partner organisations

- Other societies / projects / online initiatives

Please report broken links to my-parish@warwick.ac.uk

Historic parishes and parish churches in the British Isles:

 

Historic parishes and parish churches outside the British Isles:

• Denmark: Danmarks KirkerLink opens in a new window – a nationwide survey of Danish churches provided by the National Museum at Copenhagen, with descriptions of furnishings (including some English summaries/captions and pdf-downloads), covering around 3/4 of all parishes at present; also published in hardcopy volumes
• Finland: Karuna Old Church, 1685-86 at Sauvo
• France: Moeurs, St MartinLink opens in a new window (site of the ‘fabrique’ of a church with a 13thC altar and late medieval wall paintings); Paris: Saint Jacques du Haut PasLink opens in a new window (erected by the parish 1584, rebuilt from 1630); Vallée de l’ArdreLink opens in a new window (region with 33 Romanesque churches)
• Germany: Augsburg churches (multimedia presentation with information on bells, bishops, masons, artists etc.); Bechtolsheim (Simultaneum, Palatinate); BrandenburgLink opens in a new window ('Förderkreis Alte Kirchen' encouraging the preservation of old Berlin/Brandenburg churches); DithmarschenLink opens in a new window (churches in medieval parish federation, now Schleswig-Holstein); Duderstadt (3D virtual tour of St Cyriakus); Hildesheim, St Michael (3D virtual tour of this UNESCO World Heritage site); Neustadt (Aisch), St Johannes (with major parish library); Wittenberg SchlosskircheLink opens in a new window (castle church)
• Italy:
  • Parrocchie Web (directory of Italian parish websites);
  • Rome Churches;
  • Teregua (Valtellina, Italy): Chiesa della Santissima Trinità (Holy Trinity Chapel at Teregua in the parish of S. Nicolò, Valfurva, founded in the 1520s; website of a restoration campaign featuring a historical survey, an essay by Massimo Della MisericordiaLink opens in a new window on the church’s communal foundation and images of the building/artwork)
  • Venice: the project Chiese di Venezia – nuove prospettive di ricerca, started in 2010 and (from 2017) co-ordinated from the Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali dell’Università Ca’ Foscari, is dedicated to the diachronic and interdisciplinary study of Venetian churches. It organizes regular conferences with published proceedings and site visits. Examples covered include San Bartolomeo (2011), Scalzi (2012), San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti (2013), San Zaccaria (2014), San Pietro di Castello (2015), San Giacomo dall’Orio (2017), the parish church of San Polo (2019) and the vanished church of Santa Maria dei Servi (2020).
• Lithuania: zoomable ArcGIS map of ecclesiastical edifices, incl. parish churches; 'Sacred Lithuania': dedicated website (with facebook page) featuring histories, pictures, videos and 360-degree virtual tours of numerous examples of sacred wooden architecture (churches, chapels, mosques and synagogues)
• Malta: St Mary’s, Qrendi Link opens in a new window(images and information on parish, chapels and ex-votos)
• Netherlands: St Peter and St Walburga, ZutphenLink opens in a new window (featuring a 16thC parish library)
• Norway: Norwegian ChurchesLink opens in a new window (search engine of Norwegian churches); Stavechurches (high medieval wood churches around Sognefjord); KirkesøkLink opens in a new window (searchable database covering 1623 Norwegian churches)
• Sacred DestinationsLink opens in a new window: ecumenical guide to over 1000 religious sites in numerous countries
• Russia: St Petersburg Churches
• Sweden: Swedish Churches (a selection of historic churches from the south of the country); St Maria kyrka at RisingeLink opens in a new window in Östergötland (a 12thC church with a fully preserved set of wall paintings Link opens in a new windowby the Risinge master and other late medieval ornaments)
• Switzerland: St Mauritius, AmsoldingenLink opens in a new window (preserving the Romanesque church interior of the medieval chapter of canons)
• Various countries: Plans of Historic Churches (arranged by time)

Network Partners

British Association for Local History BALHLink opens in a new window
An association supporting local and regional historians with a journal (The Local Historian), a newsletter (Local History NewsLink opens in a new window), events like an annual ‘Local History Day’ and other service/networking activities.

 

The Centre for the Study of Christianity and CultureLink opens in a new window

(University of York)

An initiative which seeks to explore and explain one of the most important influences on art, music, history, literature and architecture. The Centre, which supports teaching and research, produces books and innovative interactive resources, and works with partners to create interpretation schemes for important historic churches.

For parish-related work see especially the recent The English Parish Church Through the Centuries Link opens in a new window(interactive CD-ROM, published 2010), the interpretation schemesLink opens in a new window at the York churches of Holy Trinity Micklegate / Holy Trinity Goodramgate and pioneering visualization tools as for Micklegate Priory RevealedLink opens in a new window.

The Tenth Warwick Symposium on Parish Research on ‘Parish Studies TodayLink opens in a new window‘ in May 2012 was organized in association with the Centre.

 

Other links

• A2A – Access to Archives: searchable database of English archival holdings, incl. parish records
• Ad FontesLink opens in a new window: association promoting research on historical documents relating to the Diocese of Como; includes details on a collaborative project on liturgical fragments by Felice Rainoldi e Rita Pezzola
• Ancestry.co.ukLink opens in a new window, featuring parish registers and other local history resources, and a family tree creatorLink opens in a new window. Full access is available at many County Record OfficesLink opens in a new window.
• ‘Archiva Ecclesiae – Associazione archivistica ecclesiastica’Link opens in a new window: platform for news, events, publications and source editions of the Italian Association of church archivists.
• ‘Armut, Not und Gute Werke: Soziale Stiftungen in Münster’ (Germany) [exhibition on poverty, need and good works at the City Archive of Münster]
• Bellringing.org: website dedicated to campanology, the history of bellringing since the Middle Ages, musical aspects and the continuation of the practice today
• Borthwick Institute, University of York: archive with extensive range of parish-related records from the city and diocese of York and an online database of church court depositions (see “Cause Papers” on the “Sources” page of this website)
• Buckinghamshire Stained GlassLink opens in a new window: covering some 1600 windows and compiled by Cliff and Monica Robinson.
• ‘Building on History: The Church in London’Link opens in a new window: AHRC-funded project aiming to contribute to the self-understanding of the Diocese of London by transferring the insights of historical research into the people and buildings of the diocese and encouraging new historical enquiry amongst people within the diocese. The website contains resources such as guidance about how to conduct a ‘history audit’, write a parish guide and other ways to engage the local community.
• ‘Catholic Heritage’Link opens in a new window: website aiming to offer a single point of access to archives & libraries of the Catholic Church, currently covering some 350 collections and 35,000 catalogue entries relating to England, Italy, Scotland and Spain.
• ‘Center for Communal StudiesLink opens in a new window‘: based at the University of Southern Indiana, the centre promotes the study of historic and contemporary communal groups, intentional communities and utopias. It looks after special collections relating to specific communitiesLink opens in a new window and offers annual awards / travel funds.
• 'Centre for Kent History and Heritage': based in the School of Humanities at Canterbury Christ Church University, this site features a blog with the latest news and events relating to its activities.
• 'Centre for Parish Church StudiesLink opens in a new window': set up by the Norwich Historic Churches Trust to hold classes and events on commemorating the dead, building techniques, stained glass, the cult of saints and many other aspects
• 'The Charnwood Roots projectLink opens in a new window': Heritage Lottery funded and associated with the Leicestershire Victoria County History Trust, it uses research and educational activities to increase local understanding of the area's past and recruits volunteers to help write parish histories for the VCH volumes of the county.
• Church House of South Tawton in DevonLink opens in a new window: images and information relating to a fifteenth-century building adjacent to the parish church of St Andrew, recently restored with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
• Church Monuments SocietyLink opens in a new window: founded in 1979 for those with interests in church monuments of all types, periods and regions.
• Churches Conservation TrustLink opens in a new window: dedicated to the conservation of historic churches no longer used for worship (with information on sites, events and fundraising activities)
• Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi: Medieval Stained Glass in Britain
• 'Coventry's Medieval Treasures': explored in an app allowing users to follow a walking trail around the city, listening to commentary and accessing images, sources, objects and other supporting materials - a project of the 'Medieval Coventry' group of volunteers
• Diocesan boundaries of bishoprics with seats in present-day Germany around 1500 - for a detailed view click on the respective names, e.g. Cologne, Mainz, Konstanz etc, under 'all items' in the left-hand margin (data from the 'Germania Sacra' publication series visualized on Google Maps)
• Early English Organ Project (rediscovering the sound of the sixteenth-century English organ and rebuilding instruments from the period)
• Early Music West Midlands (promoting early music across the Midlands)
• Ecclesiological Society (organization and website dedicated to English church architecture, furnishings and liturgy; with plenty of links to relevant events, organizations; research projects and webpages)
• England's Immigrants 1330-1550: Resident Aliens in the Late Middle Ages: 'a fully-searchable database containing over 64,000 names of people known to have migrated to England during the period of the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, the Wars of the Roses and the Reformation', alongside other resources provided by an AHRC project which ran 2012-15
• ‘European Network on the Instruments of Devotion ENIDLink opens in a new window‘: project investigating devotional practices from the 14th to the 20th century (based at the University of Bergen in Norway)'
• 'European Network for Historic Places of Worship'Link opens in a new window: Collaboration of a group of organisations concerned with the preservation of historic places of worship, offering videos, a database and other resources.
• ‘European Reformation Research GroupLink opens in a new window‘: scholarly network running an annual conference and publishing collections of new Reformation-related research
• ‘The Experience of Worship’Link opens in a new window: AHRC-ESRC programme by John Harper (Bangor), exploring what the experience of late medieval worship was like for all who participated in it, and how we can connect our present experience of surviving medieval cathedrals and churches with the texts, artefacts and music that were once used with them. Contains videos of enactments of cathedral / parish liturgies, reports on artefacts and participant interviews.
• 'Explore ChurchesLink opens in a new window': guide with historical, architectural and practical information compiled by the National Churches Trust, searchable by place / postcode, features and facilities
• 'Find my PastLink opens in a new window': (commercial) genealogical database of over 8 billion entries from census data and local materials (constituting the 'largest online collection of England & Wales parish records') with video guides to creating family trees
• ‘Friends of Friendless Churches’Link opens in a new window: an initiative which has campaigned for the preservation of ancient but redundant churches since 1957. It now owns over 40 former places of worship, half in England, half in Wales, which are preserved as peaceful spaces for visitors and the local community to enjoy.
• 'Future for Religious HeritageLink opens in a new window': brings together NGOs, charities, government, religious / university departments etc working to protect religious heritage across Europe. The initiative sets out to: understand the challenges facing religious heritage and the various measures that need to be taken to help it adapt successfully to the needs of the 21st century; build a Network of support organisations across Europe to share expertise and best practice; convince policy makers in Brussels of the economic and social importance of religious heritage.
• 'Genealogy: The Complete Resource GuideLink opens in a new window': US-based site offering an introduction to genealogical records, tools and societies.
• Genealogy for Kids: Building a Family Tree: resource aimed at younger researchers (supplied by Amanda from Hampton Public Library, New Hampshire)
• 'Genealogy GuideLink opens in a new window': to relevant techniques, issues and resources, compiled by Andy and Wes from HomeSage
• '25 Best Genealogy Sites - The Definitive GuideLink opens in a new window': guide to researching genealogy compiled by Nikolina Trifunovska
• ‘Gersau 2014: Geschichte GestaltenLink opens in a new window‘: community website created for the bicentenary of the restoration of the Swiss parish republic of Gersau in 1814, with much historical information
• Guildhall Library, London: archive with extensive range of parish records from the City of London
• ‘Historical ResourcesLink opens in a new window‘: website offering videos, images, source editions, palaeography materials and other resources linked to parish history (compiled by Dave Postles for the Medieval Research Centre at the University of Leicester)
• ‘Historypin – Local ProjectsLink opens in a new window‘: ideas and examples of digitally-supported local community projects
• Home Genealogy Guide.
• Imitatio Mariae: Interdisciplinary project studying medieval Marian motifs in Old Swedish texts and art in order to acquire new knowledge of ideals of women as well as of the interplay between medieval religious texts and artworks. Based at Umeå University and directed by Prof. Jonas Carlquist.
• 'Institutions for Collective ActionLink opens in a new window': a website, co-ordinated by Prof. Tine de Moor (Utrecht University), dedicated to the study of institutions for collective action, or institutional arrangements that are formed by groups of people in order to overcome certain common problems over an extended period of time by setting certain rules regarding access to the group (membership), use of the resources and services the group owns collectively, and management of these resources and services. Related projects focus on beguinages, guilds, commons, co-operatives and waterboards.
• 'Księgozbiory parafialneLink opens in a new window': database of 18thC parish book collections in Poland Lithuania compiled by Stanisław Witecki from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, providing a full record for 659 parishes and 8978 books for the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Płock / Wilno / Chełm and the Greek Catholic Diocese of Chełm plus partial information for a further 411 parishes and 7992 books from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kraków (in Polish; searchable by place / author).
• ‘Le istituzioni storiche del territorio lombardo – Civita’Link opens in a new window: online database of the range and development of secular and ecclesiastical institutions (including local communities / parishes) in the provinces of the Italian Lombardy region from the Middle Ages to the present day; collaborative project involving the Lombardy Region and the University of Pavia under the direction of Roberto Grassi.
• Limburg Diocesan Museum (online exhibition of cathedral treasures and religious art from the diocese of Limburg, Germany) [Museum flyer in English (pdf-file)]
• Link-Lives: project to reconstruct life-courses and multigenerational family relations for (nearly) all Danes, from 1787–1968
• Lyddington Manor History SocietyLink opens in a new window: research group conducting archaeological / historical studies on villages within this Rutland manor and hosting regular talks; the site also features primary sources and information on society publications.
• ‘Manorial Documents RegisterLink opens in a new window‘: a catalogue of their nature and location co-ordinated by The National Archives
• 'Medieval & Early Modern Theology': features a range of online resources (relating to Bibles, church fathers, primary texts, related websites) compiled by the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent
• ‘The Medieval Churches of NorwichLink opens in a new window‘: website of a three-year project on the city’s 58 churches and their relationship to the wider community undertaken by researchers from the University of East Anglia.
• Monumental Brass SocietyLink opens in a new window: website of the society for those interested in any aspect of monumental brasses in all countries
• ‘MyChurchRecords’ InitiativeLink opens in a new window: based at Busbridge & Hambledon Church in Surrey, the project aims to make better use of historic Church of England archives across the country with a view to offering them online as tools for genealogical research, and thereby rebuilding connections between families and their local churches
• National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies NADFASLink opens in a new window: co-ordinates a project of ‘church recording’, in which volunteers compile records of the contents of England’s churches, thereby promoting the recognition and preservation of the rich artistic heritage to be found in places of worship of all religions.
• National Churches TrustLink opens in a new window: a national, independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and supporting church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK; in 2011, it launched the report of its National SurveyLink opens in a new window, looking at how the UK’s church buildings are maintained, funded, managed and used by their communities. Thousands of churches participated in the exercise, which establishes new and up-to-date facts about the state of the country’s places of worship.
• ‘Norfolk Churches Trust’Link opens in a new window: exists in order to protect through financial aid and advice the many architecturally precious religious monuments of the county. Norfolk contains the greatest concentration of medieval churches in the world built as a result of the vast wealth created by wool. Of the 921 that were originally built, 659 remain: a testament to their skilful construction from flint – one of the most unforgiving materials, in a region devoid of freestone.
• ‘Norfolk Medieval Graffiti SurveyLink opens in a new window‘: ‘established in 2010 with the intention of undertaking the very first large-scale survey of early graffiti inscriptions in the UK. It is an entirely volunteer led, community archaeology project, that is changing the way we look at our medieval church heritage’. Directed by Matthew Champion, author of Medieval Graffiti (London, 2015)
• ‘Our WarwickshireLink opens in a new window‘: collaborative platform of Warwickshire’s archives, museum and communities, aimed at anyone interested in the county’s history and heritage; featuring lists of organisations, events, themes and audiovisual materials.
• The Parish ChestLink opens in a new window: website offering information and materials (parish registers, charts, census records, maps, societies etc) for genealogists.
• The Parish Clerks Company: website of the Church of England (wo)men appointed to one of the 150 parishes associated with this London company incorporated 1441-2 (with historical information)
• Pauper Lives in Georgian LondonLink opens in a new window: findings of ESRC-/Wellcome-funded projects dedicated to the reconstruction and analysis of the lives of those who inhabited the parish workhouse of St Martin’s between 1725 and 1824 (co-directed by Jeremy Boulton/Newcastle and Leonard Schwarz/Birmingham)
• 'Pirton Local History Group': includes a people database, information on local houses, historical studies and transcriptions of village records
• Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society (publishes journal and editions / facsimiles of plainsong; organizes conferences)
• ‘Refo 500′Link opens in a new window: an international project, co-ordinated by the Dutch Foundation, sponsoring conferences and other events in the run-up to the 500-year anniversary of the publication of Luther’s theses. The activities are organized around spheres (historical, theological etc) and themes (learning and education, confession and conflict, money and power etc).
• 'Religions and Denominations in the (Polish) Crown in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century', a database of sites of worship created by the Institute for the Historical Geography of the Church in Poland KUL. It provides information on a total of 15,253 religious buildings, including 8311 Uniate, 5720 Latin, 841 Jewish, 276 Lutheran, 35 Orthodox, 22 Catholic of Armenian rite, 19 Mennonite, 14 Calvinist, 10 Czech Brethren, 3 Karaite, and 2 Islamic ones.
• 'The Research Group for Baroque Ceiling Painting in Central EuropeLink opens in a new window': brings together members from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United States of America and other countries to develop professional cooperation in the fields of systematic documentation, classification, building catalogues, and the interpretation, protection and preservation of early modern, especially baroque, ceiling and wall paintings in the Central European region and in Italy.
• Researching Historic Buildings in the British IslesLink opens in a new window: includes information on sources for churches (compiled by Jean Manco)
• Researching Your Family's History from Ships Passenger Lists: genealogical resource listing people's age, who they traveled with, what ship they took, if they traveled first-class or steerage, what port they sailed from and what port they landed at, and their occupation when they took the journey (supplied by Amanda from Hampton Public Library, New Hampshire).
• ‘Royal Arms’Link opens in a new window: database run by the National Recording Project, with information on history and locations.
• Schede storico-territoriali dei Comuni del PiemonteLink opens in a new window: database of archival / printed primary sources and historical scholarship on communes in the Italian province of Piedmont, from the Middle Ages to the present day, with information on parish structures and particular attention to communal boundaries (directed by Renato Bordone, Paola Guglielmotti, Sandro Lombardini, Angelo Torre and administered by Laura Baietto under the auspices of theCentro di ricerca sulle istituzioni e le società medievale at the Dipartimento di Storia, Università di Torino)
• ‘Social Sites – Öffentliche Räume – Lieux d’échanges 1300-1800′Link opens in a new window: an international network established among members from the Universities of Dresden, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Warwick in March 2003 and supported by an ‘Academic Collaboration’ grant from the Leverhulme Trust. This initiative investigates perceptions of space in premodern Europe, with reference both to contemporary awareness and modern theoretical approaches.
• Society for One-Place StudiesLink opens in a new window: society for the study of specific places of varying size, from streets and hamlets to villages, towns and more.
• ‘Society for Reformation Research’Link opens in a new window: North American association promoting scholarly exchange on the Reformation period, incl. sponsorship of the journal Archive for Reformation Research
• 'Society for the Study of the Church InteriorLink opens in a new window': a group of scholars interested in the material culture, spatial dynamics and multifarious functions of the church interior in the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. They are mainly based in the US, Germany, Italy and the UK, but welcome members from around the world.
• 'Sounds MedievalLink opens in a new window': a site that explores the sounds of a medieval church.
• ‘The Story of EnglandLink opens in a new window‘: BBC TV series presented by Michael Wood charting English history through one place – Kibworth in Leicestershire.
• 'Theologisch bedeutsame Orte der Schweiz': website showcasing places with particular religious meaning in Switzerland (in German)
• Szady, Joanna, 'Parish libraries of Wiślica praeposite in the second half of the 18th centuryLink opens in a new window': aims to present results of studies concerning the contents of parish libraries in the Polish diocese of Cracow and to facilitate the process of book identification in other library collections
• 'The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Genealogy': guide to genealogical research.
• ‘Villanelle: Association d’Histoire du Village’ (France) [sources, texts and activities relating to research on French villages]
• Vision of Britain through Time (website offering historical information on places and parishes in Britain, e.g. from maps and travellers’ reports)
• 'Wallpaintings for the 2020s': research site provided by Ellie Pridgeon, who is a researcher in medieval and post-medieval wall paintings in the UK and beyond
• Warwick Symposium on Parish Research (annual meeting of parish researchers dedicated to a specific theme)
• Warwickshire and Coventry Historic Churches TrustLink opens in a new window: supports churches in the regions with a range of activities.
• Warwickshire Local History SocietyLink opens in a new window: runs lectures / workshops, produces Warwickshire History as well as other publications and acts as an umbrella organization for local history societies in the region