Building a Victorian Country Church: An historical archaeology of St. Mary the Virgin, Stratfield Mortimer, Berkshire

The late 1860s saw church building on a large and unprecedented scale in Victorian England, one example of which was the parish church which forms the basis of this study. Contemporary documentation relating to the construction of the church has survived in remarkable fullness allowing J.R.L. Allen to present an extremely detailed reconstruction of the materials and equipment used, the funding of the project, the identity of the workmen, specialist masons and architect involved and their pay and conditions as well as the provisions made by the local population to accomodate the construction process.