Views from the Parish: Churchwardens' Accounts C.1500-C.1800

Description

This collection of essays raises the profile of churchwardens' accounts, much beloved by many local historians, yet not as well-known as the parish registers and poor law material that also comprised the contents of the celebrated 'parish chest'. Churchwardens' accounts survive for only a minority of parishes of England, Wales and Ireland, meaning they are 'treasure trove' where they do exist. They afford an invaluable source for information about the maintenance of church fabric, furnishings, liturgy, music, and the nature of parish worship and community life in general. We are fortunate to possess such records for over 3,750 parishes, and for the most part, they are thankfully carefully stored in over 125 record offices. This collection illustrates what may be achieved in use of these records, poses questions about the many technical and conceptual problems that will be encountered, and provides invaluable context in terms of changes in record keeping practice over time and location. Essays deal with such matters as the nature of the church year, the impact of the Reformation, local rituals, parish customs, the particularities of survival in Wales and Ireland, the impact of Civil Wars, and what may be gleaned about the history of music. This wide-ranging collection of essays, covering a long period, will spark new research on the many issues raised by a team of experienced experts in the field. Contents Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Balancing the Parish Accounts The Economic Impact of the Reformation on Two Canterbury Parishes London Parish Records and Parish Studies Counting Communities, Counting Cultures Churchwardens’ Accounts and the Confessional State in Ireland, c.1660-1750 Early Modern Churchwardens’ Accounts in Ireland Vermin, Churchwardens and Support for the Parish Poor The Public Sphere and the Parish Pump Music and Religious Identity in Elizabethan London Afterword Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Notes on Contributors Index of Names and Parishes