Category:Sacristies in England

Vestries in England, apart from being church storage and robing rooms, were, from the late 1600s, centres of parish and local government which were housed within churches. Early vestry governance might have taken place in any convenient space within the church, sometimes in a church porch, but by the 18th-century special attached rooms had been constructed. The images here show vestry buildings, inside and out, typically attached to the side of the church, or a conversion of part of the church.

Vestry committees oversaw both religious and secular matters, including the maintenance of local amenities, local taxation, and the well-being of parish population, including the distribution of poor relief. In 1894 the secular role was taken over by parish councils in what became civil parishes, and by 1921 the religious aspect of vestries became administered by parochial church councils.