Judge not, lest ye be judged. This timeless wisdom has guided the Anglican Church for hundreds of years, and has fostered a certain tolerance of eccentricity among its members. The Reverend Robert Hawker invented the Harvest Festival, but he also excommunicated a cat for mousing on Sundays. Bishop Lancelot Fleming would commandeer Navy helicopters when he was late for service. The Reverend John Allington – 'Mad Jack', to his friends – wore a leopard skin instead of a surplice, and insisted on being carried around in a coffin.
A Field Guide to the English Clergy celebrates the cream of the crop: the drinkers (and publicans), the inventors, the lion tamers, the suicidal missionaries, and even one piratical Archbishop. But despite their sometimes bizarre behaviour, many in the clergy saw the church as their true calling. After all, who cares if you're wearing red high heels when there are souls to be saved?
