The publication of the returns for the Census of Religious Worship of 1851 is now complete for just over half of the English counties, and this edition, for Bristol and Gloucestershire, is one of the most recent. These volumes vary considerably in their layout and the extent of detail provided. For example, this volume does not provide an exact transcript of each entry, since information about later developments (for example, restorations) is given as part of the ‘answer’ to the question on the form ‘When consecrated (for Anglicans) or erected (for Nonconformists)’. Similarly information is given about the occupation of the person signing the form, which may or may not have been included in the return, and often no source is indicated. The introduction is disappointing, focusing on the general history of the Census and a selective sketch of religious divisions – much about those in Methodism and little about the Baptists, despite the crucial role of Bristol Baptist Academy, nationally and in this area. For what is, religiously speaking, a most interesting part of the country there is little about the economic and social context, no maps, and few tables. Yet the text of the returns contains much fascinating material that readers must discover for themselves. Overall this is an opportunity missed.