15 JANUARY 1972, Page 19

The parish church

From Patrick Cormack, MP, and the Rev Ian Dunlop

Sir: This year the Historic Churches Preservation Trust celebrates its twentieth anniversary and we would like to mark the event by publishing an anthology on the English parish church and its place in the affections and life

of the people.

What we have in mind is not an architectural handbook but a collection of extracts and anecdotes from published and unpublished sources, the familiar and the unknown. Novels and diaries, letters, epitaphs, wills — all can provide the sort of material we seek. We should be most grateful for the assistance of your readers in our task. In the case of published material, all we would need is the title, author, date of publication and page reference. In the case of documents, letters., etc., we would be happy to receive either transcripts or originals, and originals would, of course, be copied and returned immediately. We would also value any of your readers' personal reminiscences appropriate to our theme. Communications should be addressed to Patrick Cormack at the House of Commons. We would, in conclusion, add that all profits from our work will be given to the Trust.

Patrick Cormack Ian Dunlop