Project Gargoyle and LARC Project

photographs by

Neil Fortey
Steve Harris
David Jarram
David Morley
Bob Trubshaw
Mike Walter

Project Gargoyle is a voluntary scheme set up in 2009 to photograph all the figural carvings in Leicestershire and Rutland churches. The photographs and associated information form part of the Leicestershire County Council's Historic Buildings, Sites and Monuments Record.

If you're not sure what a figural carving might be you should get the drift from the instructions to the photographers: 'If it's got eyes, shoot it.' More periphrastically 'figural' describes humans, animals and all the monsters in between.

About 300 churches in Leicestershire have figural carvings – some with only a few and some with very many. At this stage we do not know how many figurative medieval carvings here are in the two counties, but a best guess is about 6,000. In addition the Project has also recorded a representative selection of the nineteenth century Gothic Revival carvings. The comparatively small number of Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque (or 'Norman') carvings have also been recorded, but these sculptures are also part of two major academic studies.

The main survey phase started in February 2010 and is ongoing. By summer 2024 almost 150 churches had been recorded for Project Gargoyle. Leicestershire County Council's Historic Environment Records (HER) team incorporate the images and information into the HER database.

Three videos provide more information about Project Gargoyle and discuss a selection of the carvings of Leicestershire and Rutland:

Four free-to-download PDFs relate to the aims of Project Gargoyle:

Project Gargoyle newsletters

Five newsletters can be downloaded as PDFs. These contain the latest information about Project Gargoyle and the LARC Project together with short articles providing background information for selected carvings.

Documents for Project Gargoyle volunteers

Project Gargoyle village by village (PDF)

Project Gargoyle photography guide (PDF)

Project Gargoyle copyright assignment and consent form (PDF)

Project Gargoyle record sheet master (Excel spreadsheet)

Project Gargoyle 'dummy' record sheet (Excel spreadsheet)

Gargoyle Hunting Guide (PDF)

Who is running Project Gargoyle?

Project Gargoyle was set up by an advisory committee which included representatives from relevant departments of Leicestershire County Council, the diocesan archaeologist, representatives of Leicestershire Fieldworkers, a committee member of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society and an art history graduate.

Until 2025 Project Gargoyle was run by Bob Trubshaw. He co-ordinated the allocation of churches to photographers, prepared the photographs for submission to the Historic Environment Record, and also gave talks about Leicestershire's medieval carvings. In Spring 2025 Steve Harris took over as Project Co-ordinator. As of summer 2025 Steve and Bob are steadily progressing with the 'hand over'.

Bob Trubshaw's contact details (updated June 2022):-
Syringa Cottage, Chapel Street, Orston, Nottingham, NG13 9NL
phone 01949 850631
email bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk

A limited number of photographs taken for Project Gargoyle can be accessed via Heritage England's Heritage Gateway.