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…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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 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…
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 Michael de Rupe, Brentor, Devon The phrase first coined by John Aubrey, of eighteenth century antiquarian fame, that a great many churches dedicated to St Michael are situated on high ground, has become something of a cliché – a cliché pretty well upheld by the stunning locations of some of the churches dedicated to…
Saint Michael the Archangel in pre-Reformation England, and implications for the ‘butterfly cross’ graffito The mark commonly known as the butterfly cross is just one of the many perplexing symbols left on historic stone and woodwork by past generations. In form it tends to resemble a bow-tie shape, simply cut with two upright ends and…
West Ogwell Church, Devon West Ogwell Church is a 13th century church, now redundant and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It has a simple, whitewashed interior with box pews. The only visible graffiti is on a single limestone block beside the door. There are some Marian marks, initials, dot patterns and hash…
St Mary’s, Kingskwerwell, Devon St Mary’s parish church in Kingskerswell was built in the 14th century with additions in the 15th century and is on the site of an earlier chapel. There are only a few examples of graffiti in the church. They are to be found on the effigies of Sir John Dinham and…
St Mary’s Church, Wolborough, Devon St Mary’s, Wolborough dates from the 15th century, although the west tower is earlier. Contents include an ornate screen of circa 1518 and a Norman font. The church stands on a hill, commanding a view of the Teign estuary. There is little graffiti in the church. It consists of a…
St Saviour’s Church, Dartmouth, Devon St. Saviour’s was dedicated as a Chapel of Ease in 1372, but it may be earlier in date. The church was enlarged in the late 14th/early 15th century and has been repaired and refurbished several times since. It is described as having one of the best interiors in Devon. Features…
St Blaise, Haccombe, Devon Haccombe parish church of St. Blaise, dedicated by Stephen de Haccombe, whose tomb lies here, was built in 1233, probably as a household chapel. Enlarged in the early English style in 1328, it contains a freestone screen, an octagonal font, a three-pointed sedilia, a 19th century chancel screen, tiles bearing coats…