Church Curiosities: Strange Objects and Bizarre Legends

Novelist Castleton (The Standing Water) makes a convincing case in this enjoyable guide that British churches are delightfully weird. Digging into the structures and contents of church buildings—as well as the churchyards, labyrinths, tunnels, and crypts that surround them—Castleton explores many unexpected items, including holy eels, mummified hearts, and the grave of the first woman in England to be killed by a tiger. The introduction emphasizes how difficult it can be to differentiate pagan and Christian objects and designs—and each chapter successfully broadens and complicates that argument. The sites and building materials for many churches draw on a range of “pagan” pasts—including Neolithic earthworks, salvaged Roman masonry, and Norse carvings—many of which have been reimagined by successive generations of Christians. Explorations of the churchyards and crypts reveal a complicated set of Christian beliefs and cultures. For instance, Oliver Cromwell’s skull, disinterred by King Charles II in 1660 as a postmortem revenge, first served as a church artifact before being stolen, passed through private collectors, used briefly as a comic prop, and finally buried within the chapel of Sidney College Sussex in 1962. With colorful stories and gorgeous photographs, this enjoyable reference is a refreshing reminder of Britain’s eclectic religious history. (May)