PORCHES ARE ENIGMATIC buildings, difficult to define or contain. They present little formal coherence either as a building type or in how they relate to the larger structure of which they are part. They constitute a major visual element of most English medieval churches and no other buildings of medieval date are comparable to them architecturally, iconographically or functionally. In broad terms church porches are familiar and easily recognisable but the variety and excellence of their architectural form, aesthetic impact, and social and liturgical functioning are all remarkable. Often the most prominent feature of a church's exterior, a porch commands our attention. The visual and spatial prominence of these majestic showpiece façades clearly fascinated those who either designed or paid for them to be created. In writing this book my aim is to offer various ways to understand the sort of buildings porches were in England between the late thirteenth and mid sixteenth centuries. How were they thought of, and in what ways were they experienced? Where should we look for their architectural ancestors and close relations? What social and liturgical role did they play in medieval life? Who built them, when and to what model?

The ‘modern era’ of literature on church porches began in 1912 with J. C. Wall's publication of Porches and Fonts. Intended for the general reader, its style and content very much of its own time, Wall's book continues to be the most widely referenced source for information about church porches. Perhaps surprisingly, Wall's survey of porches and fonts did not stimulate a wider interest in porches, whereas fonts have received considerable scholarly and popular attention ever since. Porches as a monographic topic have never been addressed. A century on and in the light of modern scholarship this book revisits many of the themes which Wall discussed, presenting a greater body of primary documentary evidence and drawing on knowledge attained through direct experience of the buildings. Ultimately the present book's purpose is to offer new ways to explore, engage with and understand the English medieval church porch.

Despite recent burgeoning academic and popular interest in the study of parish church architecture, porches have been little studied, whether by architectural, social or church historians.