For centuries carved writings and artworks in churches lay largely unnoticed. So archaeologist Matthew Champion started a nationwide survey to gather the best examples. In this book he shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships, prayers for good fortune, satirical cartoons, charms, curses, windmills, word puzzles, architectural plans and heraldic designs. Drawing on examples from surviving medieval churches in England, the author gives a voice to the secret graffiti artists: from the lord of the manor and the parish priest to the people who built the church itself. Here are strange medieval beasts, knights battling unseen dragons, ships sailing across lime-washed oceans and demons who stalk the walls. Latin prayers for the dead jostle with medieval curses, builders’ accounts and slanderous comments concerning a long-dead archdeacon. Strange and complex geometric designs, created to ward off the "evil eye" and thwart the works of the devil, share church pillars with the heraldic shields of England’s medieval nobility.
Author(s): Matthew Champion
Publisher: Ebury Press
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 272
City: London
Cover
About the Book
About the Author
Title Page
A Note on Geography
Foreword
1. In the beginning
2. Researching graffiti
3. Dating graffiti
4. Protecting the spirit: ritualistic graffiti
5. Compass-drawn designs
6. The demons on the wall: pentangles
7. Swastikas and the Virgin: witch marks
8. Crosses of faith
9. Magic on the walls: charms and curses
10. Voyages over stone: ship graffiti
11. Men of the stones: architectural inscriptions
12. The chivalric code: heraldic graffiti
13. Mason’s marks
14. Men of wealth and power: merchant’s marks
15. Of knights and dragons
16. The passing of the hours: Mass dials
17. Birds, fish, puffins and pilgrims
18. The music of faith
19. Death stalks the walls
20. The Reformation and beyond... a bit
21. Postscript
Glossary
Gazetteer: selected sites to visit
Picture Section
Index
Acknowledgements
