Books by Peter Poyntz-Wright

Bishops Lydeard

Their construction, craftsmanship and chronology, 1350-1550.

The parish church towers of Somerset are remarkable for their grandeur, their intricate decoration and their stylistic development. This book combines a detailed analysis of their architecture with an elegant photographic collection of the most striking towers.

The towers that make up this collection are all of the Perpendicular period and represent some of the finest Perpendicular work in the country. In their own right, therefore, these towers warrant serious, detailed and comprehensive classification.

The author's trail of investigation reads like detective story in architectural history. The starting point was to select from Somerset's total of over 500 church towers, those which were relevant to the flowering of Perpendicular style, and which carried sufficient style and decoration to make serious comparison possible. Systematically, the features of the towers were compared including their ground plans, wall thickness, buttress types, window layout and decoration, parapet and merlons.

Huish Episcopi

Thus a picture could be built up of the sequence of construction, and the distinctive pockets of building activity within the county. A pattern emerged of 'generations' of towers developing one from another, sharing and modifying specific features in their design and decoration.

Not only does the author establish a fairly accurate date for each tower. His evidence tends to push back the date of what is accepted as Perpendicular, perhaps prior to 1360. This could be a direct result of the Black Death in 1348, which is known to have eliminated a large number of craftsman, allowing new people with new ideas to spread and develop rather more quickly than would otherwise have been possible.

From the results (using computer analysis of the many design variables) it has been possible to arrive at a construction sequence, to illustrate which types of tower were built by the same team, to provide a fairly accurate date for each tower and show how the Perpendicular style developed within the context of the Somerset towers.

The Parish Church Towers of Somerset is illustrated with 80 full-page photographs of the finest towers, and with many diagrams of tower plans, buttress settings and pinnacle arrangement.

An extensive accompanying text describes each church illustrated and draws special attention to the distinguishing features. The dating method is described in detail.

Peter has made of a special study of the country's parish churches and has himself taken the photographs and prepared all the diagrams appearing in the book.