About us

Churches, chapels and burial grounds are familiar landmarks to us all. They make up the greater part of our rich ecclesiastical heritage. Rural churches, ruined monasteries, cathedrals and suburban places of worship - all are witness to our complex religious and social past. The archaeological study and conservation of ecclesiastical buildings and their contents - including monuments, stained glass, bells and furnishings - as well as burial grounds, earthworks and landscapes, provide a unique insight into our past. This precious and often fragile legacy is increasingly under threat. The Society for Church Archaeology was formed in 1996 to provide a focus for all who are interested in promoting the care, conservation and study of the ecclesiastical buildings and landscapes of Britain and Ireland.

The Society for Church Archaeology aims to promote the study of churches and other places of worship, along with their associated monuments and landscapes, and publicises the results of the latest research and discoveries in its journal and newsletter. The society also works to ensure recoginition of archaeological aspects of church conservation, contributes to the preservation and management of sites and buildings, and complements the work of existing organisations by acting as a specific and all-inclusive focus for church archaeology.