D.P. 'Sam' Mortlock (1924- ). Former Norfolk county librarian, born at Wixoe on the Suffolk/Essex border. After retirement, he embarked on The Popular Guide, a massive survey of Norfolk and Suffolk Anglican parish churches, much in the style of that of Cautley, 50 years earlier. But Mortlock's is better, for two reasons. Firstly, he came as an outsider, not as the establishment figure that Cautley was. He has the eye of an enthusiastic amateur, and when something excites or annoys him, he says so. Secondly, he has an absolute passion for the 19th century, a period that Cautley preferred to treat as if it didn't exist. Mortlock did not ignore the post-1800 period as Cautley had; he seriously surveyed every church, including the modern ones.

Sam Mortlock, co-writing with Charles Roberts, started with Norfolk, his first volume covering the same ground as the first Pevsner Norfolk volume. This is Mortlock just beginning, and this particular volume was not as comprehensive as than the other five. He then moved westward, splitting Pevsner Volume II into two parts. Suffolk, which Pevsner covered in one, takes Mortlock three, and these are all bigger than any of the Norfolk volumes.

The Popular Guide series was originally published in six volumes, three for each county. In 2007, the Norfolk columes were republished in a new edition as a single volume The Guide to Norfolk Churches. A single volume edition for Suffolk is due in July 2008.

They are absolutely essential reading for anyone even vaguely interested in East Anglia's churches.