home page   what's new?   email bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk to request updates (please mention the Vale of Belvoir Chronicle) or to offer new information   Vale of Belvoir Chronicle only WWW   This site sponsored by   Heart of Albion

Medieval gargoyles of the Vale Traces of original paint – two shades of brown – have survived around the eyes of a springer in the chancel at Goadby Marwood. I am not aware of any surviving original paint from within the Vale of Belvoir. (Photograph by David Jarram.) As with all other parts of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire, the parish churches of the Vale of Belvoir are often home to a surprising wealth of medieval sculpture. In two other Chronicle entries I've described Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings in the Vale. This entry is about sculptures carved from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. While I've used the word 'gargoyles' in the title strictly 'gargoyles' are the usually-grotesque carvings which help drain water from roofs in the days before guttering and downpipes. Medieval carvings – sometimes, but not always, grotesque – can be found either side of windows and doorways (they are known as 'hoodstops') and as a frieze underneath the roof (known formally as a 'corbel table'). Inside the church carvings can also be found around windows and doors, on the capitals of the columns forming the arcades either side of the nave and in the 'springers' between the arches of such arcades. Look even higher in naves and aisles and you will see carvings on the corbels holding up the roof timbers. And there may be wooden carvings too, such as roof bosses. Because the roofs of most parish churches were raised in the middle of the fifteenth century the corbels and bosses associated with those roofs must date to the fifteenth century, even if the roof has been restored or replaced more recently. Carvings on the outside of churches are most likely to be 1380 to about 1420. This YouTube video explains why and this free PDF goes into more detail. In this Chronicle entry I'll simply draw attention to a selection of carvings in the Leicestershire part of the Vale of Belvoir. I hope to add some from the Nottinghamshire parishes in due course. The reason for the Leicestershire bias is that back in 2009 I set up a voluntary scheme to photograph all the figural carvings in Leicestershire and Rutland churches. A significant number of volunteer photographers 'shot' every figural carving in every church which had such sculptures. By 'figural' I mean anything that looks human, animal or all the monsters in between. The simple instruction to the volunteers was 'If it's got eyes, shoot it! More about the project here. Although these carvings are now bare stone we know that originally they would have been painted. This YouTube video discusses original colour (though none of the examples are from the Vale of Belvoir). I am grateful to all the project volunteers for giving permission to use their images on this web page. Uncredited photographs taken by Bob Trubshaw in the late 1980s. A very impressive lion on a corbel inside the church at Long Clawson. If you could afford a sculptor that good you could probably afford to have the carving gilded. Photographic simulation. Four of Bottesford's many medieval carvings. (Photographs by Neil Fortey.) Square headdresses were in fashion for women between 1380 and about 1410. So this hoodstop was carved about that time – or maybe a little later if the stonemason wasn't fashion-conscious. It also tells us that other, less easily dateable, hoodstops in a set were carved at the same time. This gargoyle depicts a bridled bear. Such animals would arrive as part of travelling carnival troupes with musicians, contortionists, fools, jugglers and such like. Depictions of most of these can be found on the outside of churches. Ryhall in Rutland has an especially good set. Probably the oldest surviving depiction of a handbell ringer in England. A fifteenth century corbel depicting a man with a demon coming out his mouth. We know it is a demon because it has a second head on the end of its tail – a standard motif in illuminated manuscripts of the time as well as in sculpture. One of a set of splendid fifteenth century roof bosses in the nave of Scalford church. Yes it's painted. But most likely it was applied (or heavily restored) in the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. (Photograph by David Jarram.) A foliage-sprouting tongue-poker in the roof of the porch at Scalford. In the 1930s these foliage-sprouters were erroneously called 'Green Men', an error which has been often repeated since. One of several splendidly monstrous gargoyles high up on the church tower at Hose. Best guess is they're fifteenth century. (Photograph by Steve Harris) Another virtuoso fifteenth century gargoyle gracing the tower at Plungar. (Photograph by Neil Fortey.) And now for two decidedly 'politically incorrect' images: A woman wearing a scold's bridle inside the church at Muston. Other examples are known from elsewhere in Leicestershire. (Photograph by Neil Fortey) Last but not least. I'll spare you any mooning men as they are mostly found around Oakham. But Harby's corbel table has this chap sucking on something known then, and now, as a stop cock. So yes, it is a depiction of a c*ck s*ck*r. (Photograph by Neil Fortey.) These two free PDFs and five YouTube videos will explain more about medieval carvings – rude and otherwise. Mawming and Mooning: Towards an understanding of medieval carvings and their carvers Medieval Carvings in Colour Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings Reading Romanesque fonts The significances of square headdresses Medieval carvings with original pigments Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale named bridges in the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland