The 'High Churchmen' refers to the group within the Church of England at the time of Elizabeth I which emphasized the Church's historical continuity with Catholic Christianity and, therefore, upholding a 'high' view of the episcopate and the Sacraments, and inclined towards formalism, ceremonies and rituals in worship. It flourished under the Stuarts (esp., under Charles I and Archbishop William Laud) and again, and for a while, in the Oxford Movement.
In general usage the word is often used as an adjective descriptive of churches that place an emphasis on formalism and sacraments in worship and a hierarchical/episcopalian form of church government.
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