In 1881, after decades of mouldering into ruin, the grand fifteenth-century church of Blythburgh, Suffolk, "The Cathedral of the Marshes", was closed as unsafe. The church was saved - but its rescue involved a bitter twenty-five year long dispute between Blythburgh vicars and committees, and William Morris and his Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, who feared that the medieval fabric would be over-restored and the character of the building lost forever.
This volume presents an edition, with notes and introduction, of original documents from both sides - providing unique insights into a rancorous conflict, with vicars pitted against patrons as well as the Society.The need was local, but the significance national, with elites ranged against another. From a description of the Blythburgh committee headed by a royal princess, to accounts of lavish fund-raising fetes and garden parties, the story is vividly brought to life.
Alan Mackley, an honorary research fellow at the University of East Anglia, studied history after a career as a scientist in the oil industry. He has lived in Suffolk for over 35 years.
- ISBN10 1783271671
- ISBN13 9781783271672
- Publish Date 19 May 2017
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Imprint The Boydell Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 383
- Language English