History of Christianity in Britain

The Church of St Martin in Canterbury is the oldest extant church building in Britain still in use as a church. It is the oldest Anglican parish church.

The history of Christianity in Britain covers the religious organisations, policies, theology and popular religiosity since ancient history.

The Roman Catholic Church was the dominant form of Christianity in Britain from the 6th century through to the Reformation period in the Middle Ages. The (Anglican) Church of England became the independent established church in England and Wales in 1534 as a result of the English Reformation. In Wales, disestablishment took place in 1920 when the Church in Wales became independent from the Church of England. In Scotland, the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland, established in a separate Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, is recognized as the national church, but not established.

Following the Reformation, adherence to the Catholic Church continued at various levels in different parts of Britain, especially among recusants and in the north of England.^[1] Particularly from the mid-17th century, forms of Protestant nonconformity, including Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers and, later, Methodists, grew outside of the established church.^[2]

^ Jolliffe, John, ed. (2008). English Catholic Heroes. London: Gracewing Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85244-604-1.
^ Parsons, G. (1988). Religion in Victorian Britain: Traditions. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 71. ISBN 0-7190-2511-7.

[1] Jolliffe, John, ed. (2008). English Catholic Heroes. London: Gracewing Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85244-604-1.

[2] Parsons, G. (1988). Religion in Victorian Britain: Traditions. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 71. ISBN 0-7190-2511-7.

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