Description
Book SynopsisA study of the impact of urbanisation on organised religion in Croydon in the Victorian and Edwardian era.Drawing upon detailed local sources, Dr Morris's study of the town and suburbs of Croydon concentrates on the impact of urbanisation upon the development of Victorian and Edwardian organised religion. The book addresses in particular the origins and form of what has been described as the decline of organised religion in England, pinpointing the difficulties inherent in previous attempts to account for this phenomenon. In his search for an explanation, Dr Morris argues that it is appropriate to study the local tensions and conflicts which engrossed the attention of the churches in this period, the religious beliefs and activities of the middle classes who composed the broad mass ofchurch membership, and the activities and divisions of the urban elites who were most influential in the churches' management. Finally he examines the role of reformed local government in redefining the sphere within which churchaction was deemed to be effective.
Trade ReviewA valuable contribution in identifying the ecclesiastical implications of the rise of the 'local state'. * JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *
Very wide-ranging...essential reading for the relationship between the religious and the secular in the late nineteenth century. * SOUTHERN HISTORY *
There is much to be learned from Morris's discussion of the political changes attendant upon population growth ... and the import of these for the place of religion in the community. * VICTORIAN STUDIES [US] *
A fine contribution to the still only partly understood relationship between growing urbanization and the decline of church influence in England at the turn of the century. * CHURCH HISTORY [US] *
Table of ContentsIntroduction; social structure; the churches in Victorian Croydon I; the churches in Victorian Croydon II; the parochial system of government; the limits of voluntarism; the corporation; conclusion - a crisis in the church. Appendices: Croydon - demography 1801-1921; Croydon - occupations and social class 1861-1911; church attendance - 1851-1902; the governing elite - 1829-1889.
