Graffiti
This series of posts has already included some examples of graffiti carved into the fabric of local churches: the sword at St. Paul’s Walden and the three-weddings engraving at the same church, the evocative plague memorial and rendering of the old St. Paul’s cathedral at Ashwell, for example. Below are some more instances. The local stone, particularly the clunch, is soft, making it easy to carve into but also easily eroded, so there is lots of graffiti but much of it worn away.
There are plenty of examples of dated initials, some probably of no more than ‘Kilroy was here’ significance, but some may be latter day versions of the simple medieval pilgrim’s crosses inscribed by the faithful that abound. There are cross keys – episcopal signage – and others of equally Christian nature. Some are clearly secular, such as representations of long bows. Intriguing are the ambiguous carvings such as the strange wheels with bending spokes. These raise questions about the belief systems of our forebears, the extent to which old customs and beliefs as well as later heresies infiltrated the orthodoxy – take a look at Royston cave for a prime example. We know that churches were regularly built on pre-Christian religious sites. While there are several pragmatic reasons proposed for the abundance of ancient yew trees in churchyards, we also know that the yew harks back to ancient beliefs that the church tried to co-opt and tame.
Make what you will of these examples from Newnham:
Wallington apparently boasts a long bow although I couldn’t find it. But I did easily locate the medieval warrior in the 12th century base of what is now the church tower, and another carving that may be of a hobby horse in the porch. One theory is that they refer to a ‘mummers play’ about St. George but they are well away from each other, which seems to undermine any notion of linkage.
At Kimpton, there’s a representation of espicopal keys:
And strange engravings at Ardeley and Cottered:
A palimpsest on a column at Newnham:
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