HEAVEN ON EARTH: DR EMMA J. WELLS IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID OLDROYD-BOLT

The reputed flowering of the Gothic style in twelfth-century northern France proclaimed the dawning of a new era which swept across western Europe. An enterprise of ‘cathedral makers’, sustained by kings, chapters, abbots and nobles of European high society, mobilised an expansive programme of building in a quest to literally build Heaven on Earth. At least, that is the traditional narrative spun by historians. The real story is far more intricate… and far more intriguing.

Ecclesiastical and Architectural Historian Dr Emma J. Wells reveals the dramatic tales behind sixteen great cathedrals. These stories are deeply intertwined with the lives, legends and scandals of the people who built them. These architectural marvels are some of the most epic sagas in history, teeming with an extraordinary cast of characters; human stories of triumph and tragedy that take the reader from the chaotic atmosphere of the masons’ yard to the cloisters of power. We see how 1,000 years of cathedral-building shaped modern Europe, and influenced art, culture and society around the world

Dr Emma J. Wells Dr Emma J. Wells is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster. She is a Principal Historic Buildings Consultant at SLR and former Lecturer in Ecclesiastical and Architectural History at the University of York. She received her doctorate at Durham University, for which she was awarded a British Archaeological Association Ochs Scholarship. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a trustee of the Churches Conservation Trust, she has since returned to Durham as a research fellow. Emma is also a regular contributor to television and radio, and writes for publications including BBC Countryfile, The Times, TLS, BBC History and History Today. Her previous book, Pilgrim Routes of the British Isles, was published in 2016.