When the Saxons first settled in Britain, they were pagans. The Pope thought this was bad. He was in charge of the Christians. He lived in Rome. In AD 597, the Pope sent a missionary called St. Augustine to persuade the Saxons to become Christians. He did this in Canterbury in Kent. Lots of other missionaries followed him. They went to different parts of the country. Some of these missionaries came from the Roman Church in Europe and some came from Ireland. The Roman and Irish priests did things differently. They had a big argument about when to celebrate Easter. In AD 664, King Oswiu of Northumbria had to call a big meeting to decide. The Roman Christians won. The Archbishop of Canterbury was in charge of all the bishops and priests in England. The bishops were in charge of all the priests in an area of land called a 'diocese' or 'bishopric'. At the centre of each diocese, the bishops built cathedrals. Across the country, priests built minster churches. Do you know of any minsters near you? Groups of priests lived at them. They went out into the countryside and taught people about the Bible. There were also many monasteries. Later, small churches were built in almost every village in the country. Each one had its own priest. These are called parish churches. Where is your parish church?  Activity Sheets available.

Click to find out: What the churches were like