England’s religious transformations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries dramatically reshaped the interiors of parish churches not only by purging many traditional items like altars, shrines, and images of saints but also by introducing artifacts like communion tables and book desks to hold bibles. Robert Whiting’s meticulous investigation of these changes offers both in-depth descriptions of these works of art, furniture, and other goods as well as analyses of the motivations that led parishioners to jettison once favored objects while they embraced new ones. Because these material objects offer evidence of the “nature and timing of the church’s transformation” (xix), Whiting argues they can contribute to the debate over whether the English Reformation proceeded quickly because most people supported it or took place slowly because of general opposition.

Whiting relies on multiple sources in order to assess the material state of parish churches around England both before the reform began and at various stages thereafter. Artifacts are naturally critical to the study, and his own observations of these are supplemented by the many scholarly studies of elements like fonts, wall paintings, glass, roof bosses, and brasses. Equally valuable are churchwardens’ accounts, inventories, wills, Episcopal court books, and other written documents that provide information about when items were commissioned, their cost, sometimes their sale or destruction, and people’s attitudes toward these changes. Whiting punctuates his study with the voices of parishioners whose sentiments about the material culture(s) of religion can be startling and revealing of the layered meanings religious artifacts held. Traditionally, for example, the Catholic priest kissed the pax, a small metal plate, then passed it to parishioners. In 1522 a Mr. Brown wanted the pax passed to him first as a sign of his social precedence, saying to the clerk, “I shall break it on thy head” if his desires were not met (54).

Part 1 focuses on ritual requirements, so screens, altars, fonts, plate, cloth, service books, and receptacles each receive a chapter. Part 2 comprises those additional components found in most churches, including paintings, glass, images, organs and bells, pulpits and seats, galleries, and memorials. Sixty black-and-white photographs and twelve color plates illustrate medieval remnants such as rood screens depicting saints, empty pedestals and indents that once held figures and brasses, and Protestant additions such as biblical inscriptions and heraldic paintings. Eight appendices offer further analyses of documentary sources for objects that specific churches held at certain dates.

The transition from Catholic to Protestant interiors proceeded more rapidly in the south and east of England than in the north and west, but Whiting indicates that change typically took place in fits and starts. Theological differences dictated the conversions, but inconsistencies modulated their pace. Because Protestants linked altars to the elevation of the priesthood and the “idolatrous worship” (21) of the mass, for example, they were prohibited under Edward VI in 1550, often sold by churchwardens and then used as paving stones, tomb covers, or for other secular purposes. A brief altar revival in Mary’s reign was followed by further demolitions under Elizabeth, with the Protestant communion table finally replacing the Catholic altar. Yet reformers also condemned as magical or superstitious the holy water in baptismal fonts, which were often decorated with figures of the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the seven sacraments. Still, many fonts survived, albeit sometimes whitewashed or disfigured, because no government decree forbade them. Another surprising discrepancy relates to iconoclasm. As early as 1536 royal injunctions attacked the use of wood, stone, and alabaster images depicting saints or holy scenes, which were then prohibited under Edward VI in 1547–48. A weak revival under Mary was followed by renewed “official assault” (161) in 1559. These images were openly reviled and condemned, decapitated, and burned. Yet stained glass with similar iconography could remain intact, perhaps due to lack of glass to replace it or because the reformers perceived the danger of idolatrous worship diminishing with two-dimensional figures.

How did parishioners respond to or participate in this material metamorphosis of sacred space? Every chapter analyzes people’s motives for resisting or supporting the destruction of traditional church goods and the introduction of new furniture, books, and other items. This somewhat repetitive organization elucidates minor variations. Driven by their faith in such Catholic teachings as the merit of prayers for the dead, the utility of saintly intercession, and the value of the sacraments, traditionalists sought to prevent or minimize damage to altars, images, and screens—the items through which people enacted these beliefs. Similarly, opposition to Catholic theology spurred churchwardens and parishioners to rid churches of these same articles, replacing the Catholic chalice with the simpler reformed cup, for example, and mural paintings of the Last Judgment with scriptural texts. Whiting repeatedly emphasizes how people were influenced too by the social and economic roles of church goods, showing how church donors established their social prominence through gifts and how artisans earned money both for making and later destroying objects.

Whiting’s study forms a valuable guide to the material transformations of England’s parish churches over many decades, with abundant details about artifacts themselves as well as the churchwardens, donors, artisans, and other people who effected or resisted these alterations. A map would be helpful for clarifying geographical variations. Whiting concludes that “Protestant conviction” (235) alone was not responsible for the changes he documents. In addition he suggests that many people supported reformers because they feared punishment for resisting change, or they wanted to profit from the sale of a church’s old goods and the making of new items, or they held a “sense of duty to the crown” (236). Yet as Whiting himself has shown, social and economic interests always accompanied theology in shaping religious material culture. The interwoven elements of belief, avarice, pride, and respect for authority marked relationships between sacred objects and parishioners, Catholic and Protestant alike.