"Everyone interested in architecture will find this book an indispensable companion to the discovery and appreciation of the astonishing number of Celtic, Saxon, Norman and medieval buildings and monuments which are still to be seen throughout Britain and Ireland. While providing a brief historical background to each period, a is mainly a comprehensive guide to the development and use of the wide range of surviving secular and ecclesiastical buildings, including church furnishings." "Illustrated with over 350 black and white photographs by the late Edwin Smith and accompanied by a glossary of architectural terms and a gazetteer covering thousands of sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, it is an invaluable work of reference as well as an invitation to travel and to explore. This is the first book in a three-volume survey of architecture in Britain and Ireland."--Jacket.