ABSTRACT
A basis for comparing the religious characteristics of nineteenth-century towns exists in the church attendance censuses, and these show that while the class-based pattern of attendance was repeated in every part of England, its level and denominational distribution varied quite widely even between the larger cities. Thus, in every town church attendance was considerably lower in working-class districts than in middle- and upper-class districts, and explanations of this fact that are valid for London will probably be valid for other towns too. In matters of religious belief and commitment, however, the effect of social status or class membership is less easily defined. In such countries as France, Spain and Ireland, bloody conflict divided the population into self-conscious religious communities, united by common loyalties and hatreds.
