This is in some ways a puzzling book. At first glance, it looks as though it is another of those ‘How to Read a Church’ pocket books of which there are a number on the market. But closer inspection reveals that Martin Renshaw’s aim is two-fold. The first is to give a summary of his research project investigating the evidence for the presence of organs in English parish churches in the later Middle Ages, and the extent of musical performance in that period. This has involved visiting over 800 churches, measuring and photographing chancels and examining churchwardens’ accounts for references to organs. This small book is intended as a taster and a precursor of three more substantial books to be published in the future.

The second aim of the book is to respond to the long-awaited Taylor Review of the Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals (2017; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-taylor-review-sustainability-of-english-churches-and-cathedrals, accessed 4 July 2018), which recommended that a network of community support advisors (CSAs) and fabric support officers (FSOs) should be established to help maintain and widen the use of our medieval parish churches. Renshaw is anxious that such officers should understand how these buildings were used, the artefacts they contain and how they have evolved over the centuries, because, as he says, ‘if we want to preserve a building and adapt it for new purposes, it is wise to find out all we can about it and what it contains’. His ‘long essay’ uses a mix of musical and social archaeology to further that deeper understanding. My concern about this ‘essay’ is that neither of these two aims is fully and satisfactorily realised, but this is of less consequence if the promised more comprehensive studies are in the pipeline. Indeed, it may be better to begin with an accessible introduction such as this if the hope is that the CSAs and FSOs envisaged by the Taylor Report will buy it and read it.

There is much stimulating and useful material in the book; in particular, Renshaw’s ‘big idea’ that there was much more musical activity and performance in our medieval parish churches than historians have allowed for. Renshaw believes that he has discovered evidence of organs and musical activity in at least half of all churches and chapels in England, and his research highlights the fact, sometimes overlooked, that these buildings were ‘performative spaces’, places of often complex and elaborate ritual, as priest and people celebrated the seasons of the liturgical year together. Renshaw is good at interpreting chancels to tease out evidence for this that has been largely neglected. He also draws our attention to the acoustics of churches and has interesting things to say about access doors to chancels. In some places he speculates beyond the evidence, as in his suggestion that string courses are the visible representation of ‘the girdle of Christ’ that binds together the community of the church. However, such speculation only adds to the stimulus and passion to think afresh about our medieval churches that is evident throughout the book.

Renshaw ends by proposing his response to the Taylor Report: to allow the naves of our churches to revert fully to community and secular use, while retaining the chancels for the worshipping community, returning them to the dignity and state of the late medieval church, as outlined earlier in the book, and reinstating the organ once more within the chancel space. This is an interesting kite to fly, but poses considerable legal, practical, aesthetic and financial problems, which, I suspect, most church communities will find challenging, if not impossible, to face. The debate will no doubt continue about the tension between sustainability, liturgical need and heritage conservation. Renshaw’s book is a timely contribution to that debate, and hopefully the prelude to detailed studies on the role of music and organs in our late medieval parish churches.