Historic graffiti, masons' marks and ritual protection marks in secular and religious contexts.
St Mary, Upchurch & St Margaret, Lower Halstow
St Mary, Upchurch & St Margaret, Lower Halstow
St Mary, Upchurch from the south-east.
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 a creek of the River Medway.
Upchurch on the other hand is strung out and is almost in two halves. The older and larger section is dominated by the larger church of St Mary the Virgin, which although “restored” in 1875, still retains some of the medieval fabric. The tower, which was restored in the 15th century, and is unusual in that it has what is known as a shingled “Candle Snuffer” roof (See photo). The chancel, dated as c. 1300, while the nave and East Chapel are 14th century. St Margaret is older, having its origins in the 8th century, the 12th century aisles and 13th century tower remain. The church was though remodelled about the 14th and 15th centuries, with more restoration work being conducted in the early 20th.
The graffiti of these churches were surveyed in the second half of 2014 and were among the first I surveyed being two of the four medieval churches within about 5 miles of his home. Although, these churches are near each other the graffiti found was quite different.
In St Mary’s, although graffiti was found, most of it is poor, such as the number of very rough groups of lines which are possible tallies and are recorded as apotropaic marks. There is one compass drawn trefoil which is very good, albeit rather feint and weathered. Several items were found on the timbers of the tower, these were mainly carpenter’s marks, although one tally was noted. Two reused gravestones were found in the Tower, a footstone is used as the threshold of the entrance to the Clock Room and the sill of the window in that room is a reused headstone.
A possible tally, north aisle, west pillar, northeast face
Four lines, north aisle, west pillar, east face
Interlocking hand-drawn circles with a St Andrew's cross, chancel, south aisle west pillar, northeast face
Interlocking hand drawn circles, south chancel aisle, west pillar, northeast face
Possible converging lines., north aisle, west pillar, east face
Tally marks on rail of lathe plaster., east wall of chamber outside the Clock Room
Carpenter's location mark, chamber outside Clock Chamber, roof joist, north side, west corner
Carpenter's location mark, roof joist of chamber outside of Clock Chamber, north side, east corner
Carpenter's number location mark, south roof joist of chamber outside Clock Room
Faint marks underside of floor beam of bell chamber
A fancy cross or letter, north aisle, east pillar, north face
A rough St Andrew's cross, south side of entrance to Clock Chamber
A very small cross, nave, north aisle, 2nd pillar from the east-north-west face
There are a three stones with marks which seem to be script on a pillar in the chancel. These cover quite a large area, but are illegible. Three crosses were found, these ranged from a large fairly rough St Andrew’s cross in the tower to rather neat small crosses in the nave. It seems possible, that because of the hard stone in constructing much of the church, graffiti may have merely cut through the paint, which would have decorated the church, leaving little if any marks on the stone.
Date 1706. letters ME, north door inside face
Faint human face from a compass-drawn circle, north aisle 2nd pillar from the west-northeast face
EPSON scanner image
Grave footstone used as threshold to Clock Chamber
Grave headstone used as sill of Clock Chamber window
Rough rectangle, entrance to Clock Chamber, south side
Rough rectangle, enhanced
Compass-drawn trefoil, north nave aisle, northwest face
Trefoil, enhanced
Various marks, chancel, north aisle, centre pillar, north face
Marks, enhanced
Carved blocks reset in north wall
CB, modern graffiti, north nave aisle, east pillar, north face
Letter A, north aisle, 2nd pillar from the east, north face
Possible VV, north chancel, centre pillar, north face
Script, south chancel aisle, west pillar, northeast face
Continuation of script, south chancel aisle, west pillar, northeast face
Script above script, south chancel aisle, west pillar, northeast face
St Margaret’s Lower Halstow from the southeast.
Although only about a mile apart in a straight line, the graffiti at St Margaret’s is generally better than St Mary’s both in terms of quality and apart from the script in interest. However, much of this is on plaster, often over other and through other graffiti, while in some areas the plaster is in poor condition and/or has been repaired. Most of the collection is on the central pillar of the south aisle, this includes a Manticore, the only one the author has seen, a human figure, an exceptionally large ‘daisy wheel’ 50cm in diameter and much more. However, this graffiti may well span many years and they often cut through each other, for example the pair of compass drawn parallel circles. Although marginally less graffiti is recorded here, this is perhaps because of the poor condition of the plaster on which it is inscribed. Script was recorded here but again, like the other inscriptions seen, much is no longer visible because of the condition of the plaster and many coats of lime wash. The largest compass drawn circle seen by the author was found here, on the south aisle east pillar. The outer of these two parallel circles measured 60cm in diameter, as accurately as it could be measured given the faintness of the inscription and the condition of the plaster.
Two parallel compass-drawn circles cutting through the large daisy wheel enhanced
Two parallel compass-drawn circles cutting through the large daisy wheel, the manticore, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Daisy wheel, 50cm diameter , south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Daisy wheel, enhanced
Daisy wheel, hand-drawn, incomplete, south aisle, centre pillar south face
Ladder mark, possible lightning flash on nortwest face, chancel arch, south side, northwest faces
Pair of faint parallel compass-drawn circles, south aisle, east pillar, south side
Pair of faint parallel compass-drawn circles, south aisle, east pillar, south side, enhanced
Cross, arrowhead, north aisle, west pillar, south face, east corner
Various graffiti including a human head, possible body/head of manticore, two crosses, a piece of script, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Human head, possible body of manticore, enhanced, close-up
Manticore, human figure, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Manticore, enlarged, enhanced
Manticore head close-up, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Manticore head. enhanced
Possible VV, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Probable mason's mark, south aisle, centre pillar. south face, east corner
Two painted shields, part of fresco, south aisle, centre pillar, east face
Larger piece of text, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
Small piece of script, south aisle, centre pillar, south face
It has been necessary to enhance many of the photographs, this is because largely because the graffiti itself is faint or badly weathered. Some of these enhanced illustrations look a little odd, because of the angle the picture was taken at has distorted the shape. The picture of the large parallel circles at St Margaret’s is perhaps the worst example of this. However, I’ve drawn over what is there as closely as I can, the idea being to show what was there but close inspection may well show these anomalies.
Report by Alan Anstee.
St Mary The Virgin
3 Horsham Lane
Upchurch Sittingbourne
Kent
ME9 7AL
St Margaret of Antioch
Lower Halstow
Sittingbourne
ME0 7PN
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