Restoration of Blythburgh Church 1881-1906

Edition of original letters and other documents sheds light on a major ecclesiastical controversy. <p/>In 1881 after decades of mouldering into ruin the grand fifteenth-century church of Blythburgh Suffolk The Cathedral of the Marshes was closed as unsafe. The church was saved - but its rescue involved a bitter twenty-five year long dispute between Blythburgh vicars and committees and William Morris and his Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings who feared that the medieval fabric would be over-restored and the character of the building lost forever.<br> This volume presents an edition with notes and introduction of original documents from both sides - providing unique insights into a rancorous conflict with vicars pitted against patrons as well as the Society.The need was local but the significance national with elites ranged against another. From a description of the Blythburgh committee headed by a royal princess to accounts of lavish fund-raising fetes and garden parties the story is vividly brought to life. <p/> Alan Mackley an honorary research fellow at the University of East Anglia studied history after a career as a scientist in the oil industry. He has lived in Suffolk for over 35 years.