Medieval Church and Churchyard Monuments: 611 [Paperback] Badham, Sally

A field guide to reading the dead. Sally Badham walks you through six centuries of English funerary art — from weathered stone knights to brass merchants, skeletal cadavers to praying wives. This is the grammar of medieval memorials: how to date them, decode their symbolism, spot a palimpsest brass, and understand what a missing nose or defaced inscription tells you about reformation fury or Victorian "restoration." Written for church crawlers, local historians, and anyone who's ever wondered what that armoured figure in the nave is actually doing with his feet on a lion. Compact, practical, and refreshingly free of academic jargon. If you've ever spent an afternoon in a country church doing brass rubbings or squinting at Latin epitaphs, this belongs in your bag.