Lunchtime talk: The hidden stories of England’s churches

Rachel Morley explores how England's parish churches embody centuries of local communal memory and folk culture. Discover the secret lives of England's parish churches as they offer us a way to remember the lives of the ordinary people that history has largely overlooked. Rachel Morley will contrast how national stories of conquest, threatened invasion and exploration that are told inside the Abbey were remembered in local churches across the country. Copies of Rachel's book Church Crawling will be available to purchase at the end of the talk. About the speaker Rachel Morley is a building conservator and Director of the Friends of Friendless Churches, which rescues, repairs and re-opens neglected old churches; under her direction the charity has saved twenty-seven of them. She has served as a judge for the John Betjeman Award for Church Conservation and Repair, and as Chair and Trustee of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.