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Churches: How to Read Them

Richard Taylor

Jonathan Mayo

William Lyons

Churches: How to Read Them: Episode 1: Dark Beginnings

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Episode 1

Episode 1: Dark Beginnings

Dark Beginnings

BBC Four - Churches: How to Read Them, Dark Beginnings

How churches were originally intended to protect the altar and the rite of the Eucharist.

Richard Taylor visits Britain's early medieval churches to find out why the Anglo-Saxons and Normans continued to fill their sacred buildings with pagan images.

Richard Taylor explains how churches were originally simple buildings intended to protect the altar and the most important Christian rite of all, the Eucharist. He visits Britain's finest early medieval churches to untangle the mystery of why the Anglo-Saxons and Normans seem to have been unwilling to shake off their pre-Christian past and to have continued to fill their sacred buildings with mysterious pagan images. An ancient book in an Oxford library helps Richard find an answer.

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BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Richard Taylor examines the imagery, symbols and architecture of English parish churches

Author Richard Taylor examines how the imagery, symbols and architecture of English parish churches have inspired, moved and enraged people down the centuries

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Churches: How to Read Them

Episode 1: Dark Beginnings

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