Tilbury Fort, Essex There has been a fort at Tilbury since Tudor times. It’s purpose was to defend the river Thames from hostile shipping. Famously it was the place where Elizabeth I addressed her troops as they prepared to fight any invaders who made it on shore from the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth had…
St Mary’s, Woodham Ferrers, Essex The church of St Mary’s in Woodham Ferrers, Essex dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. It has a faint doom painting above the chancel arch and a few remnants of paintings on the columns. These are dated to the 14th century. In terms of protective marks, St…
St Margaret’s, Margaretting, Essex The church of St Margaret is named for St Margaret of Antioch and lies about a mile from the village of Margaretting in Essex. There has been a church on this site since Norman times but the current church is of 15th century date. It has a unique setting, the approach…
St Mary the Virgin, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin at the north end of Burnham-on-Crouch dates back to the 12th century although the current building dates from the 14th century. It is unusual in having no differentiation between nave and chancel, with the north and south arcades stretching down to the…
St Andrew, Althorne, Essex St Andrew’s church in Althorne, Essex, dates back to the late 14th century. The chancel was added to the nave in the 16th century and the tower in 1500. The south porch is 18th century. The chancel was altered in the 20th century. Most of the graffiti at the church is…
October Miscellany Items of Interest Witches’ marks at Gainsborough Old Hall Talking Walls. What graffiti should be saved? The Oldest Graffiti in Paris From Twitter Lichfield graffiti Gainsborough Old Hall graffiti Roman graffiti in Pompeii 13th century graffiti Graffiti in Derbyshire Crosses at Wetheringsett church, Suffolk …
All Saints, Brightlingsea, Essex All Saints church, Brightlingsea, stands on a hill just outside the seaside town where it has operated as a landmark for centuries. The chancel dates back to the 13th century, with the south aisle dating to the 15th century and the south door to the 16th century. Seafaring is part of…
August Miscellany Upcoming Events Hoghton Tower Graffiti Tours Items of Interest The graffiti and paintings on the columns of the basilica in Bethlehem Medieval Mass Dials, Do You Know What They Are? The unique Nottinghamshire park where hundreds of ‘witch marks’ have been discovered Shoot That Poison Arrow: Apotropaics to…
St Mary’s Hospital, London St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London dates back to 1845. As is the way of old hospitals, it has been much altered and changed but the original building, now known as the Cambridge Wing, still exists with its main entrance on Norfolk Mews. It is a smaller entrance, where Norfolk Mews…
July Miscellany Upcoming Events Mysterious Medieval Graffiti found in the Medieval Buildings of the Worcestershire Area Items of Interest Graffiti found in basement of Italian castle From Twitter Daisy wheel in Evesham Graffiti at Ness of Brodgar
St Ethelbert and All Saints, Belchamp Otten, Essex The church of St Elthelbert and All Saints stands in the village of Belchamp Otten in Essex near the Suffolk border and in the Stour valley. It dates back to the 12th century and is quite simple inside. The only graffiti to be found is on the…
June Miscellany Upcoming Events Bodiam Castle graffiti talk Items of Interest Open Air Museum Seeks Witch Posts Medieval graffiti in church near York From Twitter Exeter Cathedral graffiti Graffiti in St Leonards Flamshire Upton Snodsbury church graffiti Graffiti in St Mary’s, Nevill Holt Rosettes…
St Peter Ad Vincula, Coggeshall, Essex St Peter Ad Vincula in Coggeshall is a large ‘wool’ church dating back to the 15th century. It was damaged by a bomb in WW2. There is very little graffiti inside the church, but on a column in the south arcade two deep crosses and two faint faces…
May Miscellany Upcoming Events Graffiti talk at Flamstead Festival Items of Interest New gladiator graffiti found in Pompeii Historic graffiti in Venice Kent door Napoleonic graffiti Prehistoiric dot patterns in Greek cave From Twitter Graffiti in St Mary’s, Whitby Graffiti in Thornton-le-Dale, Yorkshire Daisy wheels on…
Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo, Suffolk Tranmer House is part of the Sutton Hoo estate, now run by the National Trust. It was the home of Edith Pretty, who commissioned Basil Brown to excavate some burial mounds on the grounds and thus the Sutton Hoo treasure was found. After Edith Pretty’s death in 1942, Tranmer House…
April Miscellany Upcoming Events Witchcraft in Kent Exploring Medieval Graffiti Items of Interest Graffiti at Kibworth Mill From Twitter Font with daisy wheel rosettes WW2 graffiti at London Library Graffiti at St Edward, Teffont, Wilts Daisy wheel mosaic at Pompeii Prisoner graffiti at Tower…
St Mary the Virgin, Little Baddow, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin in Little Baddow dates back to the 11th century with changes and additions in the 14th and 15th centuries. It has an excellent 14th century painting of St Christopher bearing the Christ-child and another of a demon. There is a scattering…
March Miscellany Upcoming Events Ritual Protection Marks Talks Reading Stories in Stone talk Items of Interest Lecture: Cypriot medieval graffiti From Twitter The Three Hares Project The Equinox Stone • Loughcrew • Meath Graffiti at St Giles, Imber book
St Peter’s, Sible Hedingham, Essex The church of St Peter, Sible Hedingham dates back to the 14th century with a 16th century tower and porch. The fact that it has graffiti on its columns and walls has been known since at least 1915 when GG Coulton reports on it in his paper Medieval Graffiti: Especially…
Myddelton Passage, London Myddelton Passage is an ordinary, quiet residential street in Islington behind the Sadlers Wells Theatre. However, back in the 19th century it wasn’t a residential street but was a narrow alleyway a stone’s throw away from a pub, a theatre and a music hall. It shows up in court reports of the…
January Miscellany Items of Interest Message in a bottle in Edinburgh home Histoic graffiti in Croatia From Twitter Medieval graffiti at risk from the weather Prisoners’ graffiti in Winchester’s 11th century West Gate Apotropaic cat skeleton in Devon cottage
St Mary Magdalen, Magdalen Laver, Essex The church of St Mary Magdalen at Magdalen Laver dates back to the 11th century. It is a pretty, simple church with little exposed stonework in the interior. The visible graffiti is clustered around the south door and is made up of initials. The two clear dates are from…
December Miscellany Upcoming Events The Historic Graffiti in the Medieval Buildings of the Charing Area – Jan 11 Items of Interest Mysterious graffiti in Caen chateau From Twitter Graffiti in Orford Castle, Suffolk Sator Square at Great Gidding, Cambridgeshire Arborograffiti
November Miscellany Items of Interest Carved messages from the castle dungeon Michelangelo’s secret sketches under church in Florence open to public From Twitter Ritual protection in Croome Court
St Mary and St John, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire The church of St Mary and St John dates back to the 12th century. The south chapel, which holds most of the graffiti, dates mostly to the 14th century. Unusually for churches, the most common symbol in St Mary and St John is not initials and names but…
All Saints, High Laver, Essex The church of All Saints, High Laver, dates to the 12th century. It has been much restored, which probably accounts for why the only graffiti visible is on the 14th century font. This has quite extensive graffiti with several compass circles, a heraldic shield and some initials and dates. There…
October Miscellany Upcoming Events Specialist Tour : The Graffiti of Norwich Cathedral Witchmarks at Crewswell Crags Mummified Dried Cats in the Archaeological Record – talk From Twitter Marian Marks at Besford Church WWII graffiti at Stradbroke Church, Suffolk Graffiti in Winchester Cathedral
St Giles, Great Hallingbury, Essex The church of St Giles dates back to the 11th century with a 14th century tower and evidence of roman bricks in the chancel arch. The north aisle and porch dates to the late 19th century, as does the decoration of the east wall. However, the church is more…
St Edmund, Abbess Roding, Essex St Edmund’s church in Abbess Roding dates to the 14th century with amendments and additions up to the 19th. There is only a scattering of graffiti throughout the church and doorways. It mostly consists of names and initials with one date in the 18th century and one in the 19th….
September Miscellany Items of Interest Protective Marks at University of Virginia Chapel Medieval Graffiti – The marks of faith in religious buildings during the Middle Ages Saints and Mystics in Legend and Tradition Conference Report From Twitter @mjc_associates Lots of lovely Medieval graffiti at Silk Willoughby near Sleaford pic.twitter.com/BD3K5bMyYK — theotherjanet (@theotherjanet1) September 1, 2023…
August Miscellany Upcoming Events On 19 September I'll be giving an online talk on Tudor Houses. This site will feature prominently – King's House at the Tower of London. Built c 1538-40, it is one of the first houses to have attics lit by dormer windows. Booking details are here:https://t.co/mKdWgoTlP0 pic.twitter.com/T7MHo0WhaM — James Wright (@jpwarchaeology)…
July Miscellany Upcoming Events If you missed the graffiti tour at @StBartholomews in May fear not! Join us 12 Aug to look at some graffiti and learn about the history of this amazing church! #graffiti https://t.co/FhCAZvZ2ov — Crystal Hollis (@GraffitiGinger) July 12, 2023 Apotropaic graffiti in London churches talk Items of Interest Apotropaic circles in…
St Mary the Virgin, Dedham, Essex The village of Dedham is on the River Stour is where John Constable went to school and the church of St Mary the Virgin has one of his paintings to prove it. The village was a wealthy wool town and spent some of those riches on its church which,…
June Miscellany Upcoming Events London Graffiti Talk by Wayne Perkins Items of Interest Mysterious graffiti in Malmesbury Carlisle Castle Graffiti From Twitter Elaborate compass drawn cross on the south side of the tower arch. St Leonards church, Flamstead. One of hundreds of fantastic early inscriptions in the church. pic.twitter.com/sUd2cSsDMi — Medieval Graffiti (@MedievalG) June 2,…
St Mary, Stratford-St-Mary, Suffolk The parish of Stratford-St-Mary is in Suffolk, but not by much. Its border is the county border with Essex. The church of St Mary has origins going back to the 14th century with additions in the 15th and 16th centuries. There was considerable restoration to the church fabric in the…
April Miscellany Upcoming Events Witch Bottles Talk by Wayne Perkins Items of Interest Medieval Graffiti in Haddington, East Lothian Historic Graffiti in Norwich Medieval Graffiti in Genova, Italy From Twitter 'ROUNDHEADE 1645' I'm currently reading @SocialHistoryOx's brilliant 'The Blazing World' and it's making me go back and look at photos I've taken of survivals of…
St John the Baptist, Glastonbury, Somerset The church of St John the Baptist in Glastonbury, Somerset dates back to the 15th century in its current building, but there has been a church on the site back to 950 CE. It was much restored in 1856 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, which is presumably why there…
All Saints, Great Holland, Essex All Saints, South Holland was built in the 15th and 16th centuries, however it was rebuilt in the 1860s. This rebuild means that there is no visible graffiti in the body of the church. However this does not mean that there is no graffiti in the church. The pipe organ…
March Miscellany Upcoming Events Ritual Building Protection Through Pyro-Technology Hidden Charms 4 Tour of Graffiti in St Bartholomew the Great in London York Witchcraft Symposium is back! With @CREMSYork and @MagicNotWitches And it is all about #magic and #witchcraft pic.twitter.com/L8bnZg7VeT — Dr Debora Moretti (@singinghistori1) March 27, 2023 Items of Interest Historic Graffiti Found in…
St Peter and St Paul, St Osyth, Essex The church of St Peter and St Paul in St Osyth, Essex was first built in the 12th century but has been much modified since then in the 13th and 16th centuries. It is unusually wide and as well as interesting brick columns in the nave has…
St Mary, Buttsbury, Essex The Pevsner entry for St Mary’s, Buttsbury describes the church as ‘small and alone’, which is accurate for a village church with no village in sight. St Mary’s was built in the 14th century with the tower added in the 15th. There is no graffiti inside the church, other that…
February Miscellany From Twitter A few more pics from our trip to Selby. The daisy-wheels (and other marks) are on a column in the north aisle at the West end, the Marian marks are on a medieval effigy right up against the West end. pic.twitter.com/gEaJty6CY1 — Brian Hoggard (@folkmagicman) February 3, 2023 In contrast…
January Miscellany Upcoming Events ‘The Medieval & Historic Graffiti in the Borough of Swale’ Items of Interest UK Archaeologists Ask Public’s Help with Puzzling Cave Carving From Twitter What's this all about? I suppose the middle mark could be a mason's mark but why crosses in the corners of the blocks? @MedievalG @WiltsRecProj pic.twitter.com/sY6iisbX82 — Ron…
December Miscellany Upcoming Events From the Romans to World War Two: Two Thousand Years of ‘Smut’ Graffiti We have three online historic graffiti talks available to book over the festive season – details are below.ALL monies from these events will be going to @ShelterBecause sometimes we all need a helping hand.https://t.co/f7cChjHqx1 pic.twitter.com/IKGJ31My2f — Medieval Graffiti…
Dartington Hall and Old Church Tower, Devon The buildings visible today around the Great Hall on the Dartington estate can be dated to all centuries from the 14th to the 20th. This recording exercise has concentrated primarily on the medieval buildings, but has taken account of all periods of graffiti and the phases of building…
November Miscellany Items of Interest Lincoln Cathedral graffiti Familiar symbols showing up as quilt designs From Twitter Marked stone from the Neolithic which was found during excavations at Barnhouse – a Neolithic settlement on the shore of Harray Loch in Orkney, located close to the Standing Stones of Stenness. Now part of the collections at…
St Barnabas, Great Tey, Essex St Barnabas church in Great Tey, Essex, immediately shows a long history of building and remodelling. Its massive (in the solid sense) central tower was built in 1160. The chancel and north and south transepts were 14th century changes and additions. Other changes, including shortening the nave, occurred in the…
October Miscellany Upcoming Events Hidden Elements: Wiltshire’s Historic Graffiti & Protective Marks From Twitter Hundreds of pieces were discovered during repairs to the lead roof of St Michaels Church https://t.co/iSDJHLB220 — BBC North East and Cumbria (@BBCNEandCumbria) October 2, 2022 Hidden gems: from its radical transformation from royal residence to POW camp Covered in stunning…
All Saints, Writtle, Essex The church of All Saints in Writtle, Essex, dates back to the 12th century, although it has undergone much restoration in the 19th century following the collapse of the tower and its rebuilding. The graffiti is mostly confined to the stonework of the 16th century chapel dedicated to William Carpenter. There…
September miscellany Upcoming events Ritual Protection Marks Talks – Autumn 2022 London Fortean Society Haunted Landscape Talks – November 2022 Items of interest 3,500 Year Old Graffiti in Turkey From twitter An interesting morning looking at C19th dowry chests in the Horniman stores. A familiar motif probably more for decoration than protection pic.twitter.com/n2DadIRHFa — Ceri…
August Miscellany Items of Interest Graffiti in St. Mary’s in Lidgate, Suffolk From Twitter Graffiti in the Guards’ Chamber in Falaise Castle, Normandy. Much of it depicts weapons and is believed to date from the medieval period #Normandy #France #Graffiti #Medieval pic.twitter.com/6lEPTyqqF8 — Dr Elizabeth Norton (@ENortonHistory) August 8, 2022 Probably our most well defined….
July Miscellany Upcoming Events Witch-bottles from the 17th–20th Century Items of Interest Graffiti dates unopened mine at Alderley Edge Graffiti in Alnwick Church From Twitter Have you noticed the graffiti on it? pic.twitter.com/jhZ8ipGHiW — Bethenachannel (@bethenachannel) July 10, 2022 Canford Magna #DorsetLate Norman stonework in beautifully rusty Carstone. #SundayStonework pic.twitter.com/c7dMHdvvaT — Dr Helen Wilson (@NellytheWillow)…
June Miscellany Upcoming Events Ritual Acts of Building Protection: Concealed Objects & Wards Against Evil We'll be hosting a lecture/workshop on the historic graffiti & wall paintings at St Mary's, Purton as part of @archaeologyuk #Archaeology Festival. All proceeds to St Mary's & a cream tea included! @HeritageWSHC @WiltsHistory @BBCWiltshire @WiltshireMuseum pic.twitter.com/nJQyWj5Enr — Wilts Med…
St John the Evangelist, Little Leighs, Essex The church of St John the Evangelist in Little Leighs dates back to the early twelfth century. The south door and the font, where most of the graffiti in the church is located, both date to the thirteenth century. Possibly the most noteworthy graffiti can be found on…
St Mary the Virgin, Henham, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin in Henham, Essex dates back to 13th century. The tower is dated to 1325 and the south porch to the 15th century, as does the font. The south porch is where most of the graffiti is to be found. It…
May Miscellany Upcoming Events Reading the Room – What Historic Graffiti Tells Us Witchcraft and Counterwitchcraft 1500-1900 in Europe Items of Interest Witchmarks found in 300 year old Sunderland church From Twitter Ancient Graffito of the Day: A scatalogical graffito from the latrine of the House of the Gem, Herculaneum (Ins. Orientalis 1.1). #AGOTD…
St Mary Magdalene, Wethersfield, Essex St Mary Magdalene church in the Essex village of Wethersfield dates back to the 12th century, although it is believed that there was a Saxon church on the site before then. Perhaps the church’s most unusual feature is the Samson Post at the base of the tower. The Historic England…
April Miscellany Items of Interest Medieval Graffiti Revealed in Lincoln Cathedral New Discoveries Made in Worcestershire During Graffiti Fest Medieval Graffiti: the hidden histories… From Twitter Want to find out more about graffiti and other informal markings in the churches of NE England? Join our Church Graffiti Survey – part of our @durham_uni Belief in…
Westminster Hall, London Westminster Hall is one of the few parts of the medieval Palace of Westminster to survive. The rest has succumbed to time, rebuilding or the great fire of 1834. The current Houses of Parliament are the Victorian replacements built between 1835 and 1870. Westminster Hall itself dates back to 1097 but the…
March Miscellany Items of Interest BBC Digging for Britain Highlights Creswell Crags Apotropaic Graffiti From Twitter St Leonard, Clent, Worcestershire. The mediaeval inscription in the chancel. pic.twitter.com/f2bppU19CH — C B Newham FSA (@cbnewham) March 4, 2022 This set of staves is from a tower pier of St Peter's Berkhamsted which is close to a minor…
February Miscellany Upcoming Events Graffiti talk at Elsenham Village History Society on 9 March 8pm Looking forward to being a part of this! https://t.co/Le4ifIljIR — Crystal Hollis (@GraffitiGinger) February 15, 2022 Items of Interest New Light Through Old Windows: Apotropaic Merels, Dots & Powder Procurement. From Twitter Carlisle castle graffiti gets some rather splendid conservation…
St Catherine’s, Tugford, Shropshire The 12th century church of St Catherine at Tugford was built in the lea of an old coppice amongst in the Clee Hills of Shropshire. The Tugford Brook runs next to the church, once the heart of the village, and was where a mill operated for at least a thousand years. …
January Miscellany Upcoming Events Hidden Charms 4 is announced with a call for papers Items of Interest Graffiti in Rochester Cathedral From Twitter Found this fascinating and very moving. https://t.co/zuCneejBsJ — Dig For Archaeology (@ForArchaeology) January 6, 2022 Remarkable c.5,000 year old megalithic art inside the passage tomb of Fourknocks, County Meath. pic.twitter.com/jzfWRhXEJF — Neil…
St Mary, Great Henny, Essex The majority of the the little church of St Mary at Great Henny in Essex is from the 14th century, however the base of the tower belongs to the 11th century and there are additions and modifications from the 15th century. The graffiti in the church is found in…
December Miscellany Upcoming Events Medieval and Historic Graffiti in Gloucestershire Churches – 21 Jan 2022 Items of Interest The Graffiti That Changed a City Medieval graffiti at Flamstead Church Caerphilly’s ‘witch marks’ Ship graffiti in church in Porto Torres, Italy From Twitter We were back @MalmesburyAbbey this week after a break. Re-taken the Cons' Cross…
November Miscellany Items of Interest Graffiti found in Westbury, Wiltshire The Mysterious ‘Arrow Stones’ of Shotwick From Twitter What an absolutely fantastic #Roman tile: it's marked with #finger lines, hobnail #shoe prints, #dog's paw prints, and a #stamp of the LEG(io) XIIII G(emina). Tiles with imprints are very common, since tiles were laid out to dry…
Eltham Palace, London Eltham Palace in south east London has had a long history. It was given by the Bishop of Durham to Edward II in 1305 and used a royal residence from then until the 16th century. Out of favour as residence from then on it fell into disrepair until only the great hall and…
Duxford Chapel, Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire Duxford Chapel in Cambridgeshire is managed by English Heritage. It was built in the 13th century as a hospital but by the 14th century it was in use as a chantry chapel. It had already fallen into disuse by the time Edward VI dissolved the chantries in 1548. Eventually it was taken…
October Miscellany Upcoming Events Conjuring the Devil Into a Boot – 11 Nov – Zoom lecture Booking is open for our Winter Lecture Series on commonly repeated tales about mediaeval buildings. First talk is on 18 November & looks at whether there is any truth to the story that spiral stairs turn clockwise in castles…
St Mary and St Andrew, Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire The church of St Mary and St AndrewSt Mary and St Andrew, Whittlesford dates back to the 12th century12th century with chancel works happening in the 13th century and the south aisle being rebuilt in the 14th. The first item to note is outside. On the south side…
A brief digression on Merchant Marks As part of my lockdown activities (because there are very few locked buildings you can attempt to record from the outside) I took time to catch up on my reading for several historic periods where I felt my knowledge was thin. Immersed in the 18th century and the Exeter…
September Miscellany Upcoming Events Hidden Charms 3 – 2 October 2021 Items of interest Historic Church Graffiti in North Hertfordshire Here's the lecture I did yesterday for @TheCCThttps://t.co/FZQzLSszhg — Brian Hoggard (@folkmagicman) September 24, 2021 From Twitter https://twitter.com/justrena/status/1433140628095971329?s=21 Viking graffiti (replicas) at the National Museum of Ireland – thank you Padraig O'Cumasaigh for the images…
August Miscellany Upcoming Events Historic graffiti at Kibworth Harcourt windmill, Leicestershire. 16 September 2021 From Twitter Royal Naval Air Station Dale was built on the Pembrokeshire coast in 1941. During the war it was used by No.34 Polish Bomber Squadron. The site is now mostly farmland, tho one of the RAF officers' accommodation blocks…
St Mary Magdalene, Cowden, Kent The church of St Mary Magdalene Cowden is a border church, only just within the area covered by the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey, lying as it does with its southern edge almost touching the Sussex border and is three kilometres at the most from Surrey to the West. Cowden, although…
St Mary the Virgin, Alveley, Shropshire Construction of the church of St Mary the Virgin at Alveley commenced around c 1140, likely to have been on the site of an earlier structure. It sits on an eastern ridge about three quarters of a mile from the River Severn in south-east Shropshire. The name Alveley is…
July Miscellany Items of Interest Graffiti in Bad Vigaun in Salzburg, Austria From Twitter Excited by a invitation to look round Bramall Hall, interesting range of graffiti to record. So far the only place we have found merels. Nice daisy wheel and burn marks pic.twitter.com/FZJTF0Cfxy — NW Historic Graffiti (@NWHistGraffiti) July 9, 2021 Welcome…
National Covid Memorial Wall, London In March 2021, the grass-roots campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, aided by Led by Donkeys, started painting pink and red hearts on the wall of the Albert Embankment opposite the Houses of Parliament by Westminster Bridge. This was the start of the National Covid Memorial Wall and the aim was to have…
The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment Michael Hunter, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2020 The English Protestant faith, having outlawed Catholicism and banned all forms of ‘Superstititious’ Catholic practices, apparently found itself in the latter part of the 17th century in a spot of bother with the freethinkers. Beleagured by controversies…
June Miscellany Upcoming Events Rituals of Hidden Rubbish – I July 2021 – by Wayne Perkins Items of Interest Prehistoric animal carvings discovered for the first time in Scotland Witch bottles found in historic Arlington House enslaved peoples’ quarters From Twitter Just a few of many Masons Marks spotted on masonry at @Wentworth_House If only…
May Miscellany Upcoming Events Historic Graffiti in London Churches Items of Interest Ghosts, Hanging and Witch Marks at Spooky Derby Gaol Itineraries To Discover The Graffiti Of Umbria Along The Ancient Ways Of The Pilgrims: Churches, Sanctuaries, Hermitages, Votive Aedicules And Noble Houses From Twitter An interesting carving found at the #Roman fort at…
A group of masons’ marks from a canal tunnel in Bath. Kennet and Avon canal tunnel, under Cleveland House and Sydney Road, Bath, access via Sydney Gardens. Sydney Gardens were laid out as commercial pleasure grounds between 1792 and 1794, as part of Robert Adam’s grand plan of ‘Bath new Town’. The initial detailed design…
April Miscellany Items of Interest Bronze Age slab found in France in oldest 3D Map in Europe From Twitter One of the most fascinating bits of graffiti I've ever seen. On a corridor in @LancCastle: 'John Bailey. Committed…1741 by Brindle RS [possibly Society for the Reformation of Manners] For Kissing' then a tulip [representing…
March Miscellany Items of Interest Ancient Christian Runes in Egyptian Monastery The Myth of Medieval Paganism Graffiti Survey Results from St Peter, Goodworth Clatford, Hampshire 18th century house for sale with protective marks included From Twitter A boat scratching in window of Mottistone Manor central hall on #IsleofWight for #TidalTuesday #graffiti #NationalTrust. A small picture…
February Miscellany Items of Interest Prison Graffiti in Italy Home Protection the Folklore Way: Apotropaic Magic Workmen graffiti in Helensburgh Roman phallic carving found in Cambridgeshire Hidden paintings found in Shrewsbury Cathedral Oldest Australian aboriginal paintings found From Twitter Fascinating #WWI discovery of #wallpainting showing grave to 'Jack' who died 'for his country's good in…
St Dunstan’s, Snargate, Kent In 2018 the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey undertook the graffiti survey of the 14 medieval churches on Romney Marsh. One of these is in East Sussex, St Mary East, Guldeford, the rest are spread out across the rest of the Marsh. In late 2017, several members of the survey made a…
January Miscellany Items of Interest Podcast on witchcraft in modern times From Twitter Our latest on-line medieval graffiti talk is now live.'Which marks? Those bloody marks… The case for ritual protection'https://t.co/EX7BewKTFL pic.twitter.com/VlBX1VmO1P — Medieval Graffiti (@MedievalG) January 24, 2021 Uploading more videos over the weekend, but if you haven't already seen it, take a look…
December Miscellany Upcoming events Virtual Guided Tours of Royston Cave From Twitter WW2 graffiti on rocks near Rothbury, Northumberland Graffiti in Ripon Cathedral Victorian graffiti in Lancaster town house Graffiti in Siena Cathedral, Italy Shadows of old chimneys on Glasgow building Graffiti at Hardwick Hall Graffiti at Battle…
November Miscellany Upcoming Events Mediaeval Building Myths – The Folklore & Archaeology of Historic Buildings – 26 January 2021 Items of Interest Guy Fawkes, witch marks and a spiritual midden at the Tower of London ‘Witch marks’ found in Welsh manor house/ From Twitter Merchant’s mark at Exeter Cathedral Strange beast graffiti carvings…
September Miscellany Upcoming events Speed Dating – Identifying the Age of Historic Buildings with James Wright Items of interest Interview with Brian Hoggard on Churches’ Conservation Trust blog Talk on graffiti in Winchester Cathedral Graffiti carved in the New Forest Trees Irish viking ship graffiti From Twitter Doodles in 13th century manuscript…
All Saints, Vange, Essex The earliest parts of the nave of All Saints Church in Vange were built in the 12th Century, as was the font. The rest of the church was completed before the end of the 15th century. It is now in the charge of the Churches Conservation Trust. The font, with…
August Miscellany Upcoming Events Creswell Crags have bookings for private tours of ice age art and/or witch marks CCT Talk on Historic Graffiti in Winchester Cathedral Items of Interest Video discussing ice age engraving of a horse found at Creswell Crags Prehistoric engraved stones found on Jersey Graffiti found on the…
A fireplace lintel from a farmhouse in Stokeinteignhead, Devon As lockdown eased I was invited by a local farmer to look over an historic farmyard on the outskirts of this typical Devon village. The buildings comprise part of a busy working farm, and cannot be visited by the general public. The trapezoid of original farmyard…
July Miscellany Upcoming Events Making Your Mark 2020 symposium has been postponed to October 2021 The Apotropaios website now has a YouTube channel showing talks from the Hidden Charms conferences. Magical House Protection book by Brian Hoggard now out in paperpack Items of Interest Thank you to Marc Robben for sending us the…
The Book of English Magic. Philip Carr-Gomm and Richard Heygate. Hodder, 2009. Fun and games for a wet weekend in lockdown (or any other time) I was slightly surprised when I first opened my copy of this book and found that it was written not by historians but by a psychotherapist (Carr-Gomm) and a man…
St Mary, Upchurch & St Margaret, Lower Halstow The Kent villages of Upchurch and Lower Halstow lay roughly five and six miles east of Gillingham respectively and north of the main A2 road. Lower Halstow is possibly slightly the smaller of the villages, with the little church of St Margaret of Antioch, tucked away on…
All Saints, Chingford, London All Saints Church in Chingford, is usually known as the ‘Old Church’. While there is evidence that a church was on this site since Norman times, the current church mostly dates back to the 13th century. The chancel and tower are 15th century, while the south porch belongs to the 16th…
June Miscellany UpComing Events CCT Churches to be opening from 7 July Items of Interest Boat graffiti found in Italian church 12th century graffiti found in Rome’s Colosseum From Twitter Cave of carvings Isle of Wight Knights on horseback in French church Jubilee Rock on Bodmin Moor Rude graffiti from a…
St Michael, Great Sampford, Essex (3/3) Chancel Graffiti This is the third and last post about St Michael, Great Sampford. The chancel has 26 seats set in stone bays. The Historic England listing states that they were said to have seated a Knight Hospitaller who were supposed to have built the church. The most prominent…
May Miscellany Items of Interest French blog post on ritual burn marks How Satan-fearing Scots used apotropaic marks to ward off ‘evil spirits’ in the home From Twitter Pennsylvania Dutch Barns decorations and charms Charm inside a Welsh witch bottle Herefordshire curse doll Graffiti in Leicestershire Mill Daisy wheel…
St Michael, Great Sampford, Essex (2/3) North Aisle Graffiti Following on from the previous post about St Michael’s church in Great Sampford, Essex, this post will concentrate on the graffiti in the north aisle of the church. The protective marks in the north aisle mostly consist of compass drawn circles with a single Marian mark…
St Michael, Great Sampford, Essex (1/3) You only need to walk around the exterior of St Michael in Great Sampford to realise that it has a history of rebuilding. Somewhat unusually this rebuilding was mostly confined to the 14th century. The church had been under the jurisdiction of Battle Abbey in Sussex and the Knights…
Dull, with intervals of brilliance: The Handbook of Folklore, Traditional Beliefs, Practices, Customs, Stories and Sayings. Charlotte Sophia Burne, London 1913. I have to admit to readers that, even in a sternly enforced lockdown, I found this book hard to get into. My usual practice on reviewing a book is to read it (or re-read:…
April Miscellany Upcoming Events Making Your Mark 2020 graffiti symposium is announced with a call for papers Brian Hoggard has an online talk on Magical House Protection on 15th May at 6pm. Opportunities for graffiti survey at Flamstead church, Hertfordshire Items of Interest 100 year old drawings found on school blackboard Sandstone Cave near Guildford…
St Mary’s, Gestingthorpe, Essex St Mary’s church in Gestingthorpe dates back to the 13th century, the south aisle was built in the 14th century and rebuilt in the 15th when the tower was also added. There is double-hammerbeam roof, also of the 15th century, and ‘uncommonly splendid for Essex’, according to Pevsner. One wall has…
St Mary the Virgin, Henlow, Buckinghamshire The original footprint of the church of St Mary the Virgin dates to the 12th century but the current building dates mostly from the 15th century. The porch is modern. The interior walls are limewashed and graffiti pickings are very slim. I visited in the hope of tracking down…
St Giles, Great Maplestead, Essex St Giles church in Great Maplestead was built in the 12th century with major additions in 13th and 14th centuries. In the 16th century, the Deane family, who lived in nearby Dynes Hall, added a small south chapel in the church. It holds their monuments. The most splendid monument in…
The Discoverie of Witchcraft, wherein the Lewde dealing of Witches and Witchmongers is notablie detected, in sixteen books … whereunto is added a Treatise upon the Nature and Substance of Spirits and Devils. Reginald Scot. William Brome, London, 1584. ‘How diverse great clarkes and good authors have been abused in this matter of spirits…
March Miscellany Upcoming Events Hidden Charms 3 Conference has moved to 21st November 2020 Items of Interest Radio interview on the protective marks in Wookie Hole Chawton House has ‘witch marks’ and other graffiti Is this the ultimate graffiti? – Michelangelo’s room in Florence From Twitter Pencil graffiti at Binham Priory Swastika pelta carved on…
St Bartholomew, Churchdown, Gloucestershire St Bartholomew’s church in Churchdown is, in the way of many English village churches, actually at the top of steep hill. The church dates back to the 12th century with the usual additions and modifications through the centuries. The tower is 17th century. The carvings on the arch of the south…
St John the Baptist, Bishopsteignton, Devon Contrary to what you might expect, sometimes the worst thing that can happen to an historic building is to have too much money spent on it. Too little money and it might just dissolve back into the parent soil; the right amount and it survives from century to…
St Christopher, Willingale, Essex Sharing a churchyard with St Andrew’s, St Christopher’s church served the parish of Willingale Doe. The church dates to the 14th century, the font is 15th century and the church was extensively restored in the 19th century. This restoration may be why there is little graffiti in the church itself. The…
February Miscellany Upcoming Events Wayne Perkins talk at Treadwells Bookshop, London Wayne Perkins guided graffiti tour of St Bartholomew the Great Church, London (Editor’s note (Anthea, this time): there are only a tiny number of City of London churches with any graffiti that survived the Great Fire, Christopher Wren, the Georgians, the Victorians and the…
All Saints’ Church was built of limestone and cobbles between the 13th and 15th centuries. It stands on a slight rise in the ground above the village of Sutton. Perhaps fortunately, the interior has seen little by way of modernisation. Violet Pritchard, in her book English Medieval Graffiti, concentrates on only one graffito in the…
All Saints’ Church in Shillington occupies a commanding position on a hill with excellent views of the surrounding countryside. This was my first Bedfordshire church on a trip where I set out to follow in the footsteps of Violet Pritchard, one of the pioneers in the field of English medieval graffiti. Talking a campervan up…
Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course. Roberta Gilchrist, Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2012; paperback 2018. The aim of this book, as stated on its rear cover, is to explore how medieval life was actually lived, from birth to death and covering every aspect of the life course in between. It is, as Professor Gilchrist notes…
St Andrew’s, Willingale, Essex St Andrew’s church shares a churchyard with St Christopher’s church. St Andrew’s (full name St Andrew and All Saints) was the church for the parish of Willingale Spain as opposed to the parish of Willingale Doe which had St Christopher’s as its church. St Andrew’s was given to the Priory of…
Arabic Assembly Marks in Medieval Timber-Framed Buildings At the Vernacular Architecture Group‘s excellent winter conference on the theme of Marks on Buildings, Bill Hardy gave a presentation entitled ‘Carpenters’ assembly marks in medieval buildings using Arabic numerals’. Bill is always on the look out for such marks and takes up the story here in the…
St Peter and St Paul, Bardfield Saling, Essex The church of St Peter and St Paul in Bardfield Saling (also known as Little Saling) dates to the 14th century. It is notable as being one of only six churches in Essex to have a round tower. The organ is an 18th century chamber organ and…
January Miscellany Upcoming Events Hidden Charms 3, April 18th 2020, Chester James Wright of Triskele Heritage has several upcoming talks listed on his event page. James is available for lecturing/teaching, consultancy work including built heritage, stonework analysis and buildings archaeology. Items of Interest Video of protective marks on a timber beam. Unfortunately no location details….
St Catherine, Gosfield, Essex The history of the church of St Catherine at Gosfield is tied in with the de Vere family, the Earls of Oxford. The first church was built by them in the 12th century. The current church belongs to the 15th century and the emblem of the de Vere’s, a star or…
St Martin’s Cathedral, Leicester Leicester Cathedral was built from the 12th to the 15th centuries and much altered and restored in the 19th century. Until 1927 when it was consecrated as Leicester Cathedral, it was the parish church of St Martin of Tours. It is now famous as the resting place of Richard III. …
St Mary, Puddletown, Dorset Puddletown in Dorset derives its name from the nearby River Piddle. It was apparently, originally called Piddletown but that name fell out of favour with the name finally changing officially in the 1950s. St Mary’s church was built in the 12th century with additions and changes from the 13th to the…
All Saints, Great Chesterford, Essex All Saints church in Great Chesterford, Essex, dates from the 13th century. although most of what is visible dates to the 14th and 15th centuries. The west tower was rebuilt in the 18th century and that is where the south door now stands. Restorations have thinned out the graffiti in…
December Miscellany Pictures This month’s pictures are from the Roman Britain and Europe galleries in the British Museum. Future Events Hidden Charms 3 Conference Items of Interest Cherokee ritual on the wall of a cave Blog post on graffiti at the Tower of London in Spitalfields Life
The Tudor House Museum The Tudor House came into being in 1491, when Sir John Dawtrey, Overseer of the Port of Southampton and Controller of Customs, combined three smaller houses. It has a longer history, however, and its grounds feature the remains of a 12th century merchant’s house, that became known as King John’s Palace…
All Saints, Ashdon, Essex (2/2) All Saints church has a number of apotropaic marks on its stonework. It has several of one particular type – the eight pointed star. This has shown up in other churches (most notably in St Mary and St Clement, Clavering). It is described in MB Jackson’s book, Ciphers and Scripts….
All Saints, Ashdon, Essex (1/2) There are some churches, that, as soon as you enter them, you know you’re going to be spending a while photographing all the graffiti in them. All Saints church in Ashdon is one of those churches. The church dates back to the 14th century, with most of the interior belonging…
November Miscellany The pictures this month are from a friend of the site, Daniela Weber, who came across these graffiti circles in the Musee de L’Orangerie in the Tuilerie Gardens in Paris. TV Appearances The current series of Digging for Britain, Episode 2:North, has a section on Creswell Crags and the protective graffiti and an…
The Graffiti of St Giles, Wormshill and All Saints, Iwade Alan Anstee of the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey talks about two churches near Sittingbourne in Kent. When looking through the surveys of these two churches prior to starting to write this, I was struck by the difference in what was found in each church. This…
St Mary the Virgin, Little Easton, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin dates back to the 12th century and has been altered through the succeeding centuries. There are two sets of existing medieval wall paintings showing the events leading up to the crucifixion and also one of an unidentified seated prophet. The south…
Abbey Barn, Glastonbury, Somerset Rural Life Museum The 14th century Abbey Barn at Glastonbury now forms the north range of a substantially 19th century farmyard, and is part of the Somerset Rural Life Museum. When built it would have been the abbey manor barn, sited just outside the precinct walls of the abbey complex. It…
St Mary the Virgin, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex St Mary the Virgin, Hatfield Broad Oak, was originally part of a Benedictine Priory founded in 1135. The priory was founded by the de Vere family, the Earls of Oxford. The effigy of the third Earl, Robert de Vere (died 1221), lies in the centre of the…
October Miscellany A graffiti cat is lurking in the background of a famous painting. The Blind Fiddler by David Wilkie hangs in the Tate Britain Gallery. The cupboard doors on the right of the painting show a clearly drawn little cat. Upcoming Events Medieval Graffiti Tour at Exeter Cathedral Items of Interest Zine includes medieval graffiti Creswell…
Holy Trinity, Littlebury, Essex Holy Trinity church dates back to Norman times. The south and north doors are 12th century. The tower is 14th century. It was heavily restored in the late Victorian period with the chancel being completely rebuilt when the organ was installed and the crucifixion scene painted. The font cover dates to…
St Andrews, Helions Bumpstead, Essex St Andrew’s in Helions Bumpstead is an unusually light church. In part this is due to the south wall of the nave, rebuilt in the 16th century and, to repeat the lines about Hardwick Hall, it is more glass than wall. This superfluity of daylight is also reflected by the…
August Miscellany From the doorway of the church in Nadaillac, Dordogne, France. Upcoming Events Crystal Hollis giving Church Graffiti talk in York – Sept 12th Crystal Hollis giving graffiti tour of Southwark Cathedral – Sept 18th Items of Interest Medical Charm in the Wellcome Collection Article about protective marks found at Creswell Crags…
Bath Abbey, Bath and Northeast Somerset The Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul, better known as Bath Abbey, has been undergoing a £19.3 million programme of major works, funded largely by the Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to repair the Abbey’s collapsing floor, install a new heating system using the nearby hot springs…
Stonehenge, Wiltshire If there is ever a place on this website that needs no introduction, then Stonehenge has to be it. There has been a monument there for five thousand years. The current configuration (allowing for modern restoration and reconstruction) dates back to 1930-1600 BCE. The World Heritage site gets over a million visitors a…
St Botolph’s, Hadstock, Essex The current building of St Botolph’s in the village of Hadstock dates back to 1020 when King Cnut ordered it to be built to after the battle of Assundun in 1016. There is evidence of an earlier Saxon church on the same site, possibly belonging to an abbey founded by St…
July Miscellany Our pictures this month are graffiti found by friend of the site, Sonia Hines, on her visit to Uluru (aka Ayres Rock), Northern Territory, Australia. She says this is graffiti, not rock art, and would have been done in the 1970s and 1980s when tourism around this sacred site was a lot less…
St Andrew, Bulmer, Essex The church of St Andrew in Bulmer dates to the 12th century. The north arcade in the nave is of 14th century origin. The font, with a fine green man on one face, dates to the 15th century. There are three figures featured in the graffiti in the church. A soldier,…
St Botolph, Beauchamp Roding, Essex The church of St Botolph stands high and alone on a ridge near the village of Beauchamp Roding. The church dates back to the 14th century. There is a marker stone in the churchyard which is counted as part of The Puddingstone Trail, with folklore attached to the stone. Apparently…
St Andrew’s, Wormingford, Essex Wormingford, in North Essex has its own version of the George and the Dragon story. In Wormingford’s case, however, it is not Saint George, but Sir George of Layer de la Haye who slew, not a dragon but an escaped ‘cokadrille’ or crocodile. This ‘dragoun’, a gift to Richard I for…
The Abbey Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence, Waltham Abbey, Essex The Abbey Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence is more familiarly known as Waltham Abbey Church. There is evidence that there was a church on the site as far back as the 7th century. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in Saxon…
June Miscellany Upcoming Events Talk at Leicester Guildhall in July. Hidden Charms Conference call for papers. Tickets are available for the Making Your Mark symposium. Items of Interest Prehistoric Stone engraved with horses found in France. Helmsdale Castle graffiti.
St Mary, Bures, Suffolk The village of Bures is divided by the River Stour and, as the river functions as the border between Essex and Suffolk, the village is part in Suffolk and part in Essex. The church of St Mary falls on the Suffolk side of the border. It is always nice to see…
St Mary Magdalene, Stockbury, Kent St Mary Magdalene is a relatively small church built alongside the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle, which overlooks the Stockbury Valley and Dean’s Bottom, a smaller valley that runs into it. The building originates from the late 12th century with 13th and 15th century additions; and was…
St Mary the Virgin, Little Sampford, Essex There are some churches where setting, exterior and interior combine to form a whole that achieves way more than the sum of its parts. St Mary the Virgin in Little Sampford is one such gem and I would urge anyone to visit whether they are interested in graffiti…
May Miscellany Some faces from the past this month… Events and Dates for the Diary There is still time to submit abstracts for the Making Your Mark Symposium. The deadline is 14th June 2019 for the call for papers and poster submissions. The book launch for ‘Magical House Protection‘ by Brian Hoggard of Apotropaios is…
St Mary the Virgin, Great Bardfield, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin, Great Bardfield dates back to the 12th century. It is noted for its stone rood screen, one of only three in Europe. The screen has two angels facing out towards the nave and two demons facing in towards the chancel. Local…
April Miscellany Pictures Under the heading of ‘Not Quite Medieval’ come these coin holes from the old Dominion Cinema on the corner of Buxton Road and Mission Grove in Walthamstow, London. The coin holes show where people queueing for the cinema have ground coins into the brickwork, making these distinctive round holes. Items of Interest…
St Barnabas, Alphamstone, Essex The little village of Alphamstone is recorded in the Domesday Book, but there is archaeological evidence that there was a settlement nearby in the bronze age The churchyard has several sandstone sarsen stones which may or may not have formed a stone circle. This is not the only mystery. The church…
St Mary’s, Stebbing, Essex (2/2) Stebbing church has several compass designs ranging from simple circles to elaborate daisy wheels with mulitple petals. There are a range of protective marks throughout the church including Marian marks, pentagrams and butterfly crosses. The crosses in St Mary’s are mostly of a plain, latin type with a couple of…
St Mary’s Stebbing Essex (1/2) The light and airy church of St Mary the Virgin in the little village of Stebbing in the Uttesford district of Essex is one of those that appears to be way bigger than the size of population it serves. It stands on a ridge of high ground towards the south…
Brian Hoggard’s book Magical House Protection – The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft will be launched in Pershore, Worcestershire on Sunday 30th June. Join Brian and other enthusiasts at St Andrew’s Parish Centre. Church Walk, Pershore, WR10 1DT. Every attendee will receive a limited edition numbered enamel badge of the Apotropaios logo and the hard cover first…
St Katharine, Little Bardfield, Essex The tower of St Katharine is pre-Conquest, but the tower arch is 15th century and this where the graffiti within the church is located. Despite it’s early origins, the 19th century interior restoration was extensive and very little graffiti was left at the end of it. While most of the…
March Miscellany Welcome to this month’s roundup of items of interest from the internet and twitter feeds. Pictures We have a little game of compare and contrast here – with two pipe smokers! One is from Gloucester Cathedral and the other is from St Mary’s church in Elsenham, Essex. Remember people, smoking is bad, no…
Genealogist Richard Rossington has carried out some detective work on H Ghostly of Berkeley, who appeared in an early post. Richard describes how he went about his research and shares the results… The unusual separate bell tower of St. Mary the Virgin, Berkeley, Gloucestershire has a graffito ‘H. Ghostly’ cut into it, with ‘1826’ carved…
St Mary the Virgin, Stone near Dartford, Kent In December 2016 the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey (KMGS) surveyed the church of St Mary the Virgin, Stone near Dartford. Tucked away down a lane, off what used to be the main A2 road and now surrounded by modern housing developments is the lovely old church of…
St Mary the Virgin, Moreton, Essex The church of St Mary stands on a mound to the east side of the little village of Moreton in Essex. The construction of the current building dates to the 13th and 15th century with the tower being added in the late 18th century. The font is 12th century…
February Miscellany Creswell Crags Round Up The big news in February was the discovery of a large number of protective marks in the caves at Creswell Crags. It hit the national and international press. A roundup of the coverage from online sources is listed below: The Times Cave Explorers Make Spellbinding Discovery ITV News The Gateway…
All Saints, Kingston, London All Saints church in Kingston on Thames sits to the north of the market place as it has done since the 12th century. The church has been updated and renovated throughout the centuries, with the subsequent loss of a lot of its graffiti. There is some still hanging on, though, despite…
A large concentration of ritual protection marks have been discovered in caves in Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border. Raking Light editor, caver Linda Wilson visited the site with researcher and archaeologist Alison Fearn and gives an account of the find. On Sunday 21st October 2018, cavers Hayley Clark and Ed Waters…
St Laurence, Ridgewell, Essex (2/2) St Laurence church has several compass drawn circle designs, including a very clear daisy wheel and an unusually long sequence of linked compass drawn circles. There is a large incomplete daisy wheel by the west door in the tower, it is obscured behind an old noticeboard. ” template=”/var/sites/r/rakinglight.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ngglegacy/view/gallery-caption.php” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC”…
Devon, St Andrew Stokeinteignhead The church of St Andrew at Stokeinteignhead, South Devon, stands slightly above the surrounding cottages on the rising ground of a steep valley, which here widens out sufficiently to allow the formation of a village centre. The setting is constrained by the landscape, so that the relationship between church, church house…
St Laurence, Ridgewell, Essex (1/2) The fine, light church of St Laurence has stood in the village of Ridgewell in Essex since the 14th century. The village is close to the WW2 airbase of RAF Ridgewell. The base was the home of No 90 Squadron of Bomber Command until 1943 when the USAAF Eighth Air…
January Miscellany Playing Games in a Cave Cavers are used to seeing marks on cave walls, from calcite flows to mineral stains and all sorts of unusual pits and protuberances. Those found in a cave in Azerbaijan proved to have a different provenance. The markings are man-made and represent a game board similar to backgammon,…
St Andrew’s, Buckland, Hertfordshire The nave and chancel of this Churches Conservation Trust church date to 1348. The tower, south aisle, porch and south door are from the 1400s. There is a bird of unidentified species, several harps and a heraldic shield. ” template=”/var/sites/r/rakinglight.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ngglegacy/view/gallery-caption.php” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] Notable among the protective marks is a…
St Mary’s, Great Dunmow, Essex Great Dunmow, in Essex, is famous for its Flitch Trials, where married couples can win a flitch (side) of bacon if they can satisfy a jury that they have not wished themselves unmarried for a period of twelve months and a day. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath laments that she never…
Hampton Court Palace, London (2/2) The previous post on Hampton Court dealt with graffiti in the Tudor areas of the palace. The 17th century areas of the building have their own graffiti too. Most of the graffiti is concentrated in two areas – The Kings Staircase entrance from the Clock Court and the East Front…
Hampton Court Palace, London (1/2) I went to Hampton Court Palace as a tourist, wanting to keep an eye out for graffiti but not having planned this visit as a graffiti-hunting trip. I was blown away by how much graffiti there is in the place from drawings and protective marks in the Tudor kitchens to…
The Porch of St Mary Kenardington Alan Anstee of the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey pays a visit to an old haunt and describes the fascinating porch of St Mary’s church in Kenardington, Kent. St Mary, Kenardington is a small church with medieval origins near Ashford in Kent. Kenardington is a scattered hamlet consisting of clusters…
December Miscellany There’s a definite international feel to this month’s miscellany with interesting knotwork used a ritual markings in Tamil Nadu and graffiti from Spain, France and Gozo, Malta. We would also like to take the opportunity to wish our readers health, wealth and happiness in the coming year. Picture of the Month Thanks to…
St Mary’s Pembridge, Herefordshire St Mary’s Pembridge, is a Grade 1 Listed Building, with 12th and 13th century origins. Its nave, north and south transepts and chancel arch were rebuilt during early 14th century and the north porch was added late in the same century. Restorations took place in 1871 and and in 1903-9. The…
St John the Baptist (St John on the Wall) Bristol The church of St John the Baptist, Bristol, also known as St John on the wall, is today more intimately associated with vibrant modern graffiti than with the tiny details of the historic kind. The structure incorporates the last surviving medieval city gate, and with its…
A Tale of Two Churches – The Graffiti of All Saint’s, Murston, Kent It’s always a good thing to think outside the box when graffiti hunting, as Alan Anstee of the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey explains when he takes a look at All Saints, Murson. Since I started graffiti hunting with the Kent Medieval Graffiti…
All Saints, Maldon, Essex The town of Maldon, of sea salt fame, has been a settlement on the Blackwater Estuary since Saxon times. The church of All Saints dates back to the 12th century. Its unique feature is a triangular tower. While there is not a huge amount of graffiti in the church there is…
St George, Anstey, Hertfordshire St George’s church, Anstey, dates back to the 12th century with additions and changes in the 13th to 15th centuries. It is thought that some stones used in the church’s construction came from the nearby Anstey castle. Violet Pritchard has made extensive notes on the church in her book, English Medieval…
November Miscellany Graffiti in Paintings We have come across a small handful of 17th and 16th century paintings showing graffiti. This picture, Interior of the Buukerk at Utrecht (1644) by Peter Saenredam actually shows graffiti being painted. If you focus on the bottom right of the picture (which hangs in the National Gallery in London)…
St Andrews, Halstead, Essex St Andrews church is in the centre of Halstead, a market town in Essex. The church dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries. There were no major alterations until 1850 when the west end was extended and the tower added. This 1850 alteration appears to have removed any graffiti in…
Pew and Choir Stall Graffiti from Kent and a little from elsewhere Graffiti isn’t only found on stonework in churches, castles and houses. Alan Anstee of the Kent Medieval Graffiti Survey talks about some of the fascinating graffiti he’s seen on wooden church pews and choir stalls. When I was first asked to write something…
St John The Baptist, Higher Ashton, Devon The little church of St John the Baptist, at Higher Ashton in Devon would appear to be a place with an identity crisis. Pevsner and Cherry, the accepted guide to English buildings, refers to it as St Michael. Nicholas Orme, in his scholarly survey of English Church Dedications, finds…
St Nicholas, Castle Hedingham, Essex Castle Hedingham, despite being in Essex, was the ancestral home of the de Vere family, the Earls of Oxford. Not surprisingly, the village shows all the signs of medieval prosperity, which is also reflected in the large parish church. St Nicholas church dates back to the 12th century with some…
St John the Baptist, Pebmarsh, Essex The church of St John the Baptist, Essex, was built in the 14th century and restored in the 19th. ” template=”/var/sites/r/rakinglight.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ngglegacy/view/gallery-caption.php” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] Apart from a small amount of graffiti on a the western most column in the north arcade, everything else is around the south…
October Miscellany Items of Interest Prehistoric art hints at lost Indian civilisation WW2 aircraft graffiti from Suffolk Sensational rune stone find New graffiti from Pompeii may help with dating of Vesuvius eruption Graffiti in Olde Boar’s Head pub in Middleton Soldier smoke stencil graffiti at Bewick The report of the graffiti in Souillac in the…
St Augustine of Canterbury, Birdbrook, Essex The main features of St Augustine of Canterbury in Birdbrook, Essex are the excellently carved pew ends in the nave and the arm rests in the choir stalls. They are carved in oak, by Ken Mabbit of the firm of H&K Mabbit, and were installed in the 1960s and 1970s. …
St Mary the Virgin, Strethall, Essex There has been a church on this site since before the Domesday book was written. St Mary the Virgin, dates back to the early 11th century. The entry in Pevsner praises the Anglo-Saxon architecture of the chancel arch and there are pews that date back to 1475. ”…
St Lawrence Tower, Ashburton, Devon A visitor to Ashburton, approaching from the high ground of Dartmoor, might be forgiven for wondering why a small market town deserves two medieval churches with soaring Devon towers. The answer is simple, though it sounds as if it might be the start of a surreal pattern of riddling: one…
September Miscellany Here is September’s round-up of graffiti and related items of interest on the internet. Items of Interest Brief article about medieval graffiti. Atlas Obscura references possible Templar graffiti at Newark Castle. Runic graffiti at Maes Howe in Orkney AI Can Now Decipher Medieval Graffiti Oldest known drawing Graffiti…
St Mary’s Priory, Little Dunmow, Essex (3/3) The previous post for St Mary’s Priory church at Little Dunmow in Essex reported on the last of the graffiti inside the church, but before I move on to the external graffiti, I would like to start with something different. Pevsner Architectural Guide for Essex describes the animal…
St Mary’s Priory, Little Dunmow, Essex (2/3) In the previous post of St Mary’s Priory in Little Dunmow, we looked at the graffiti round the doorway and the first two columns. This revealed the first of two graffiti described in Pritchard’s English Medieval Graffiti. The rest of the graffiti in the church is on…
St Mary’s Priory, Little Dunmow, Essex (1/3) St Mary’s Priory, Little Dunmow is a strange church. The windows on the north side are wildly out of proportion to those on the south and the tower looks like someone stole an italian campanile and glued it to one corner. Inside, there is an arcade of…
August Miscellany This month’s roundup has some old stones making their first appearances in years thanks to the drought and some graffiti found on a museum exhibit. In the news BBC video on Lincoln Cathedral Graffiti Pictish stone found in river Report on graffiti in the Ripon Gazette ‘Hunger Stones’ revealed in…
St Nicholas, Elmdon, Essex St Nicholas church in Elmdon Essex has a 15th century tower, but the rest of the church was completely rebuilt in the 19th century. This has wiped the nave and chancel clear of graffiti barring a few faint initials on the 16th century tomb of Thomas Meade in the chancel. …
St Mary the Virgin, Tilty, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin was originally the Chapel Outside the Gate of the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary in Tilty. Both abbey and church were built in the 13th century. When the abbey was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries only the church remained apart…
St Michael the Archangel, Ilsington, Devon St Michael Ilsington is a large church that lies at the heart of its village, is accessible by way of the church steps, which are directly adjacent to the pub, or by a level entrance from the southwest corner of the site, passing through a gatehouse which once housed the…
St Mary the Virgin, High Easter, Essex The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in High Easter is a large church in a small village. The church dates back to the 12th century with additions up to the 16th century. The roof and clerestory as well as the south porch all belong to the…
Church of St Mary, Kington, Herefordshire Kington is a small market town on the Welsh Marches, resting in the shadow of Hergest Ridge. There was a church at Kington in the 12th century but above ground only the font survives. The current building dates from the 13th century, and is a Grade 1 Listed Building….
St Mary the Virgin, Manuden, Essex The church of St Mary the Virgin lies as the heart of the village of Manuden in Essex. St Mary’s is believed to date back to the 12th century, but the church itself was largely demolished and rebuilt between 1863 and 1864. This has limited the amount of available…
