‘Monuments’ in the title means monumental effigies, defined by the author as ‘an image of a person carved in three dimensions and set up as a memorial to the deceased’ (p 1); ‘Military’ means effigies depicted in armour; and ‘Medieval’ means until 1500 (after which armour depicted on effigies is much less useful as evidence of armour actually being worn). Three survey chapters cover the ‘production of medieval monuments in England’ (with discussion of the main stone varieties found in Lincolnshire), ‘losses and dating’ and an ‘overview of military effigies in Lincolnshire’. The latter divides the county corpus into four groups based on the main periods of development of armour.

The fashion for carved effigies, as against monumental brasses or non-effigial slabs, peaked in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries; consequently effigies dated to before 1330 make up more than half the corpus. The sixty-two individual entries, arranged chronologically, are sensibly organized under eight headings: current position (in the building), condition, heraldry, posture, description, length, identification and commentary. For each effigy, there are usually two full- or near full-length photographs, normally one from the side and one from directly above (as far as the location and traditional tripod photography allowed), though the presumably accidental repetition of the same photograph in figs 46 and 47 deprives us of a side view of the effigy at Londonthorpe.

The survey includes some very interesting and previously little-known effigies, like that at Saleby, which is shown lying on a bed of leaves, and that at Old Somerby, which has a horse and squire at his feet, similar to the better-known effigies at Minster-in-Sheppey, Kent, and Exeter Cathedral. Some will feel disappointment that the county's equally interesting non-military effigies are not included, but the author has concentrated on what interests him most and larger surveys risk being uncompleted.

Armour is very carefully observed and described (with a helpful glossary of terms at the back), and the names of the local gentry and noble landholders are given (where found from the author's extensive searches of published sources) and are discussed in an attempt to identify the person commemorated; though, with the rarity of inscriptions (surviving or recorded) even where heraldry is present, it is rather depressing how rarely it is possible to name a certain candidate. Consequently, dates given are mainly based on the perceived date of the armour (albeit that the chronology of armour development has become rather clearer during the last thirty years) rather than by reference to the persons commemorated.

Apart from armour, Downing's other main interest is in identifying the products of different workshops (the products of which, it is acknowledged, frequently transcend county boundaries) and the likely places of production. This presents two problems: first, it is often hard to appreciate the closeness of the stylistic comparisons being made on the basis of the photographs published here; second, attempts to follow up entries for effigies stated to be from the same workshop can lead to confusion when it is found that, say, the entry for effigy A groups it with B, C and D, but the entry for effigy B groups it with A, C and F. In fact, a more developed and comprehensive overview of the author's view of the stylistic relationship between many of the pre-1350 effigies in Lincolnshire will be found in his essay in the recently published Monumental Industry (Badham and Oosterwijk 2010, 66–96). Stylistic comparisons are often highly subjective, but this reviewer would like to suggest one additional possible comparison. Despite differences in the drapery of the surcoat, the posture and direction of the lines of mail on the arms of the Purbeck marble effigy at Hougham (no. 12) suggest it belongs to a long-identified group of effigies in the same material which appears, on the basis of the distribution pattern, likely to emanate from the area of the quarries in Dorset (see Blair et al 2000, 12–14).

Despite several recent fresh and stimulating analyses and discussions of English medieval effigies generally (especially the recent book by Nigel Saul), there is still a place for the survey volume of this kind, both to present the corpus of material and so make it available for further study, and to guard against future losses. We are told, for example, that an effigy at Panton church, photographed in 1962, had disappeared before 1989, and that the future of the effigy at Maltby-le-March church, which was being sold at the time the text was written, is uncertain (p 2). If the earlier effigy at Rippingale really is the same as that described by Monson in 1831 (as seems plausible), the degree of subsequent damage is quite unexpected.

A few production problems slightly mar this book. The proof correction could have been tighter and uncorrected errors occasionally obscure the meaning. Despite this, we must be grateful to Mark Downing for publishing this substantial corpus of medieval sculpture, containing a number of pieces of high quality or of unusual interest that are too little known. This extensive basic survey will serve to inform more detailed studies, not just of the monuments but of the county and the region in general. The military effigies of about half the English counties have now been surveyed in print (albeit in varying depth): those of Shropshire and Worcestershire by Downing. It would be good if this book were to stimulate someone to embark on a similar survey of Lincolnshire's non-military effigies.

Badham, S and Oosterwijk, S (eds) 2010. Monumental Industry: the production of tomb monuments in England and Wales in the long fourteenth century, Donington: Shaun Tyas

Blair, C, Goodall, J A and Lankester, P J 2000. ‘The Winchelsea tombs reconsidered’, Church Monuments, 15, 5–30

Saul, N 2009. English Church Monuments in the Middle Ages: history and representation, Oxford: Oxford University Press