My Passion with Richard Taylor: Book that unlocks the secrets contained in Britain’s churches

Churches have always been fascinating places to me. They speak volumes, not just about faith and history but about ourselves as we were and are today.

There are few places as rich as a church when it comes to finding meaning in their glass, metal, wood and stone.

Delving into the history of churches to unlock the significance of what we see inside them became a hobby of mine and I found that a huge number of my friends, whether religious or otherwise, were interested in what I discovered. Fuelled largely by the enthusiasm of friends, I had an idea for a book that would explain exactly what you see when you visit a church.

More out of curiosity than anything else, I sent off a brief synopsis to a handful of publishers. I was more than surprised when half of them came back to say they wanted to talk. I signed up with Random House and was given four months to produce a draft. And so How to Read a Church: A Guide to Images, Symbols and Meanings in Churches and Cathedrals was born.

What started as a small book for a small market quickly snowballed into something much bigger than anyone expected. Published in 2003, it became a Sunday Times best-seller and a few years later, completely out of the blue, the BBC called to say they were interested in turning it into a six-part series.

They screen-tested a few presenters and invited me along for a go, out of courtesy I thought.

However, I found myself landing the job and was whisked off on a six-week tour of 70 churches across the UK, to film the series. Switching from legal work to TV presenting was a nerve-wracking experience and a very steep learning curve. But with a lot of support from the crew, I soon found my feet enjoyed the process enormously.

The end product, Churches: How to Read Them, was aired on BBC4 at the end of last year and has just been repeated on BBC2.

The series tracks our past through our churches right through from the dark pagan cultures to the modern day digital age. It was developed to entertain and interest people and I’m extremely proud that it has been enjoyed by so many.

The icing on the cake was when it was short-listed for a national TV award earlier this year.

It really was a privilege to have the chance to visit these glorious buildings, lead a different life for a few weeks and to stand in front of a camera and tell people about something you love.

I’m now shooting a one-off programme, Bells, in September for BBC4.

However, although I’ve enjoyed the journey, I have no plans to retire from the day job – I enjoy being a lawyer, too much.