The Companion is a comprehensive, fully illustrated A-Z guide to all aspects of the English parish church - of which there are 18,000 dating from the post-Roman period to the present day. Subjects include architecture, fittings and furnishings, decorative and allegorical features, stained glass, monuments, brasses and effigies, traditions and folklore, parochial and vestry administration and records, and the role of the parish church in the history of a community. Entries vary in length from one-line definitions of terms to several pages in which subjects are considered in depth. The Companion is arranged alphabetically and consists of a number of primary entries from which cross-references lead on to a larger number of secondary entries. Many of the terms encountered when visiting or researching a parish church are also included, either as short individual entries or by cross-referencing. The book is illustrated with over two hundred line drawings, maps and photographs and includes suggestions for further reading, an index of churches and a list of useful addresses.