Saints in the Landscape
By Graham Jones
Published in 2007 by Tempus Publishing, Chalford, Stroud
(www.tempus-publishing.com)
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 0 7524 4108 5
Saints in the Landscape is the sort of book
you think you will dip into for five minutes,
perhaps to check a church dedication, but
actually emerge from a couple of hours later,
having been led on by one fascinating detail
after another. Whether you are interested in
a particular saint (say, St. Denis, patron of
horse-fairs, promoted by Royalty and,
notably for us, by Robert Grosseteste, the
famous Bishop of Lincoln who in his early
years was prebendary of Empingham) or
intrigued by which saints were associated
with particular landscape features (St.
Michael with high places, St John the Baptist
with wilderness) you will find the
information here.
Dr. Jones says the work is ongoing and he
welcomes contributions but he has, himself,
laid the foundation: his many years of
research are here represented in text, an
index (warning: the print is tiny) and
amazingly detailed maps. These show the distribution of saints' names through
most of Britain and thereby make good his claim that the choice of dedication
was not random but follows patterns, which with his help we can follow.
Reviewed by Auriol Thomson
Saints in the Landscape
By Graham Jones
Published in 2007 by Tempus Publishing, Chalford, Stroud
(www.tempus-publishing.com)
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 0 7524 4108 5
Saints in the Landscape is the sort of
book you think you will dip into for five
minutes, perhaps to check a church
dedication, but actually emerge from a
couple of hours later, having been led
on by one fascinating detail after
another. Whether you are interested in
a particular saint (say, St. Denis, patron
of horse-fairs, promoted by Royalty
and, notably for us, by Robert
Grosseteste, the famous Bishop of
Lincoln who in his early years was
prebendary of Empingham) or intrigued
by which saints were associated with
particular landscape features (St.
Michael with high places, St John the
Baptist with wilderness) you will find
the information here.
Dr. Jones says the work is ongoing and he welcomes contributions
but he has, himself, laid the foundation: his many years of
research are here represented in text, an index (warning: the
print is tiny) and amazingly detailed maps. These show the
distribution of saints' names through most of Britain and thereby
make good his claim that the choice of dedication was not
random but follows patterns, which with his help we can follow.
Reviewed by Auriol Thomson
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