The churches of Wales are one of Britain's great unheralded treasures, yet for many years there has been no book devoted to them and they await the kind of complete coverage given to churches elsewhere in Britain. Astonishingly, this is the first opportunity for a book on the subject to show them at their best in colour as well as words.

The archetypal Welsh church is not in town or village, enhanced by generations of patronage: it is the isolated, simple, evocative walls-with-roof, in a landscape often spiritually charged. The Welsh churches tell us about medieval times, and the Age of Saints that came before and, amazingly of the pagan Celtic times before that, which they were meant to erase.

Illustrated in colour, the book encompasses a millennium of churches around Wales, from tiny St Govan's tucked in its cliff-face, through ruined Llanthony to the magnificence of the cathedrals at Llandaff and St David's. It is an invaluable repository of history, art and architecture, spirituality and people's lives which will appeal to the historian and the tourist, communicants and those without a god.

"It is a splendid guide, more than a dry architectural handbook in the Pevsner mould. With the help of well-chosen colour photographs, it is strong on the atmosphere of the churches and chapels of Wales, so often preserved by poverty and isolation, and now threatened with slow destruction by the same forces"
Christopher Howse, The Telegraph

"If, like me, you are a compulsive visitor to churches, large and small, this is the book for you. Those represented are among Britain's great unheralded treasures and this beautiful volume reveals them at their best in both words and outstanding photographs. History, art and spirituality are the threads which the author draws upon to weave his material into an inspirational record and celebration of the joys of our holy heritage over the centuries... For decades England has had Pevsner, Betjeman and Alec Clifton-Taylor. They may be dead, but their publications on churches are read by a wide readership. T.J. Hughes is a star in the same orbit in his native Wales and he has an elegant prose style which ensures that our interest never flags."
Dewi Roberts

Timothy Hughes was born in north east Wales and has a long family association with the churches of that area. The Deputy Director of the International Bar Association, he lives in London with his wife and son.