This article examines the dramatic changes brought to English townscapes by Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. These “new” religions have arrived with the large-scale immigration and subsequent natural growth of the minority ethnic populations of Great Britain since the 1950s. The article traces the growth and distribution of these populations and religions, as well as the development of their places of worship from front-room prayer rooms to cathedral-scale buildings. It explores the way in which the British planning process, dedicated to preserving the traditional, has engaged with the exotic.

We are grateful for the constructive suggestions of three anonymous referees. We would also like to thank the following three funding agencies for research grants: ESRC grant R000239765, Social Geography of British South Asian Muslim, Sikh and Hindu Sub-Communities; the Leverhulme Trust grant F/773, Ethnicity and Cultural Landscapes: Mosques, Temples and Gurdwaras: A Domesday Survey; and the Nuffield Foundation small grant SGS/01044/G, Muslim and Christian Places of Worship and the Planning Process in Birmingham. We further gratefully acknowledge our research associates on earlier parts of the continuing project: Dariusz Wojcik, University of Oxford; James Ryan, now at Queen's University, Belfast; and Simon Naylor, now at Bristol University.