where beautiful castles and church spires rise above other parts of england, the crowning glory of many somerset towns and villages is these medieval church towers. it is largely on the basis of the somerset towers that 52 of simon jenkins' "thousand best churches" in england are in somerset – trailing only the counties of norfolk (with 65 entries) and lincolnshire (54). jenkins cites the towers as one of england's finest contributions to medieval art. other authors write: