In recent years historians have overlooked the early Evangelical movement in the Established Church in Cornwall. At the time of publication there were only two books in print that deal with that period in the eighteenth century.

In this book, the author endeavours to give an account of the Evangelical revival in Cornwall, and to examine it in the light of its central figure Samuel Walker, who, as J. C. Ryle rightly said, ‘lived in a day when the very existence of Christianity in England was at stake, and when the main business of true-hearted Christians was to preserve the very foundations of revealed religion from being swept away’.

The author examines and unveils the man himself — his walk with God, the difficulties he encountered on a private as well as a public level, the characteristics of his life and faith, the reasons behind his actions. He allows Walker to speak for himself, in the hope that, in these days of doctrinal liberalism, the reader will be challenged and strengthened by the beliefs and conduct of a true Evangelical and so turn to God with renewed devotion.


Tim Shenton is the headmaster of St Martin’s School in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. He is married with two children.