Even in this predominantly secular age, Britain's cathedrals remain potent symbols of religious continuity. Their purpose was to reveal God's majesty, to declare the supremacy of the Church and the devotion of the men who built them. They were intended, literally, to be awesome. Similarly, our medieval abbeys, most of them sad remnants of a glorious past, serve to remind us of the dedication of those who aspired to the monastic ideal. No two cathedrals or abbeys are alike in their conception, location, construction or history, and it is this that gives them their limitless appeal.

Informative, knowledgeable and wide-ranging, Stephen Friar's study contains over 1,450 entries and explores the features of these places, as well as associated subjects, such as architecture, monuments and church music. Entries on the Anglo-Saxon Church, monasticism, the Reformation, the restoration of the Roman Catholic dioceses and more assist in revealing a wider historical context.

Richly illustrated in both colour and black and white, The Companion to Cathedrals and Abbeys is essential reading to new and more seasoned researchers alike.