The National Churches Trust’s new tourism focussed website ‘Explore Churches’ means that anyone can easily ‘discover England’s ‘five star’ churches and the best counties to discover different aspects of historic churches’, while Bettany Hughes, Vice President of The National Churches Trust says ‘We hope it will encourage more people to become passionate about these tremendous buildings packed with memories of human life often dating back over 1,000 years.’
Explore Churches writes:
Churches were analysed across eight different categories; interiors, stained glass, churchyards, atmosphere, wildlife, national history, monuments and social history. The counties that are home to the highest percentage of churches in each of these categories are revealed to provide hotspots for church tourism. Visitor facilities were also examined to determine, for the first time, the county that has the highest percentage of ‘five-star churches’, and therefore offering the best overall visitor experience.
Based on information on ExploreChurches, discover England’s ‘five star’ churches and the best counties to discover different aspects of historic churches here!
- Cumbria is best for national history
- Norfolk for church interiors
- Suffolk for stained glass
- Cornwall for wildlife spotting
- London for ‘five star’ churches
Bettany Hughes, Vice President of The National Churches Trust said:
‘Our analysis will help tourists and visitors discover the amazing heritage of churches and chapels. We hope it will encourage more people to become passionate about these tremendous buildings packed with memories of human life often dating back over 1,000 years. As well as signposting the best architecture, stained glass, and history, our data also includes information on visitor facilities, which allows us to suggest which churches are ‘five star’ attractions. Our study shows that churches and chapels offer a tremendous range of unique experiences for visitors including tower climbing, wildlife spotting and even live music. There really is something for everyone.’
The analysis follows the National Churches Trust’s poll of 2,037 British people, conducted by ComRes, which shows 49 per cent of British people visited a church in the last year. 24 percent said they visited a church building, chapel, or meeting house to attend a life event, such as a wedding, funeral or baptism and 22 percent said they visited a church building, chapel, or meeting house for tourism. Almost a quarter said they would be more inclined to visit a church as a leisure activity or tourist attraction if there were better visitor friendly facilities (23 percent), and 19 percent said they would visit if they knew in advance that the door of the buildings was unlocked. The latest data will not only help tourists locate the best destinations for exploring churches in England, but will also put churches in line with other leisure facilities as tourism destinations in their own right.
What makes a church 5 star? Visitor centred facilities such as parking, refreshment and toilets have been deemed as key features of a 5 star church. Bringing churches closer in line with other major tourist and leisure attractions, this rating helps visitors know what to expect if planning a visit, from a practical point of view.
Greater London scores the highest when it comes to visitor experience, with more than half (56 percent) of churches included in the study being accessible by public transport and providing parking, refreshments and toilets. Yorkshire was the second most visitor friendly (49 percent), followed by Surrey (38 percent). Churches in this category are commended for smoothly combining historically rich surroundings with modern day facilities.
