Church curiosities Strange objects and bizarre legends

Novelist Castleton (The Standing Water) makes a convincing case in this enjoyable guide that British churches are delightfully weird. Digging into the structures and contents of church buildings--as well as the churchyards, labyrinths, tunnels, and crypts that surround them--Castleton explores many unexpected items, including holy eels, mummified hearts, and the grave of the first woman in England to be killed by a tiger. The introduction emphasizes how difficult it can be to differentiate pagan and Christian objects and designs--and each chapter successfully broadens and complicates that argument. The sites and building materials for many churches draw on a range of "pagan" pasts--including Neolithic earthworks, salvaged Roman masonry, and Norse carvings--many of which have been reimagined by successive generations of Christians. Explorations of the churchyards and crypts reveal a complicated set of Christian beliefs and cultures. For instance, Oliver Cromwell's skull, disinterred by King Charles II in 1660 as a postmortem revenge, first served as a church artifact before being stolen, passed through private collectors, used briefly as a comic prop, and finally buried within the chapel of Sidney College Sussex in 1962. With colorful stories and gorgeous photographs, this enjoyable reference is a refreshing reminder of Britain's eclectic religious history. (May)