Andrew Ziminsky & Diana Darke

** This is a combined talk: Andrew Ziminski (7.30) and Diana Darke (8.30). One ticket covers both talks.

Join acclaimed stonemason and author Andrew Ziminski as he talks about his new book Church Going—a profound and personal exploration of England’s ancient churches, told through the eyes (and hands) of a traditional craftsman.

Church Going is a journey across the country and through time—into Saxon crypts, crumbling Norman towers and medieval chancels—tracing the stories embedded in stone, timber and stained glass. This is not just an architectural history; it is a meditation on faith, community and continuity, offering a mason’s-eye view of how the sacred has shaped our built landscape.

Building on the critical acclaim of his first book, The Stonemason, Church Going will serve as a useful handbook on the architecture, fixtures, furnishings and artworks awaiting discovery in our island’s churches.

This second book is equally rich in anecdote, craft and care. Expect tales of hands-on conservation, archaeological discovery and the strange beauty of rural England’s most quietly powerful spaces.

This intimate evening with the author will appeal to anyone interested in architecture, heritage, spirituality—or simply the enduring magic of old churches.

Andrew Ziminski is an SPAB Fellow and founding partner of the Somerset-based firm Minerva Stone Conservation. He has worked as a church stonemason throughout the English West Country for the past 35 years. During that time, he has visited more than half of Britain and Ireland’s 11,000 medieval churches.

Diana Darke is a Middle East cultural historian with special focus on Syria.  Diana will be talking about Islamesque and Churchgoing: How Islamic Architecture and Muslim Craftsmen Shaped Europe’s Churches.

She holds degrees in Arabic from Oxford University and in Islamic Art and Architecture from SOAS, London, and has spent over 40 years living and working in the region, for both government and commercial sectors. Among her publications are the bestsellers My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis and The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy.

Her book Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture shaped Europe received three Book of the Year 2020 awards. Its sister volume, Islamesque, has been selected by Daunts as a History and Current Affairs Book of the Year 2024. She is a Non-resident Scholar at Washington DC’s Middle East Institute, a respected Middle East think-tank.