From the 1676 Compton Census to the 1851 Census of Religious Worship: Religious Continuity or Discontinuity?

Abstract

The two major censuses of religion that have most preoccupied historians and cultural geographers have, without question, been the Compton census of 1676 and theCensus of Religious Worshipof 1851. Over more than two centuries, probably indeed throughout British history, no other religious censuses were conducted to rival these two sources. The religious history of the intervening period has however, been researched by using other documentation, including the Evans list of 1715, the returns of Papists in 1767 and 1780, selected visitation returns, and the 1829 religious returns.