Apotropaic symbols – Page 2 – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

WINTERBOURNE STOKE. WILTS . ST PETER – Multiple Scratch Dials

Published on October 15, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST PETER . WINTERBOURNE STOKE . WILTS

GRADE II* † C12 origins (recorded 1163); C13 expansion; C15 works, additions (tower). Mid-C19 extensive restorations. C12 font. Consecration crosses. 3m W of Stonehenge. 51.1651 / -1.8914 / SU076406

An extraordinary and diverse collection of dials on a lovely church that is a short walk from the dreaded A303. The village is the first traffic choke-point on the road W of Stonehenge. Who would guess, inching forwards in your car where pedestrians daily take a life-or-death decision when to cross, that a lane to the south offers such a rich treat?

DIALS

St Peter is a multiple scratch dial church. Estimates vary of precisely how many: perhaps 8 or 9, depending on individual interpretation. BSS records 4. The range of plausibility covers all bases: obvious dials, probable dials, possible dials, not-a-dials. Some candidates – whole or partial – may simply be decorative. Others look promising but are unlikely to work as dials in design or (present) position. I have grouped various candidates, accepting that my choices may be lightly contentious. Note that I have mostly not specified locations. I started (2 visits) on the SE corner, if that helps. I have given links below with helpful details. Anyway, a multi-dial church is always a pleasing challenge for locating them.

DIAL 1

A simple dial on a RHS window jamb, consisting of 2 circles and a central gnomon hole. The double rings, badly eroded, look compass drawn. There are no visible lines, nor any pocks.

DIAL 2

On a LHS window jamb, a plugged gnomon hole with very little else remaining. Enlarging the image reveals a faint trace of what might once have been a circle; and the ghost of a noon line.

DIAL 3

A much clearer dial on a quoin stone, though quite badly eroded. Originally it was presumably a complete circle of lines with terminal pocks. Only about 12 lines and 9 pocks are visible.

DIAL 4

Another quoin stone dial, with 2 lines emerging downwards from the gnomon hole, diverging either side of noon. L line possibly has a terminal pock; R line is badly eroded, barely visible. It’s hard to make sense of the bent grooves LLQ – somewhat pointless as parts of a dial.

DIAL 5

Dials 5, 6, and 7 are collected together in corner, one above the other. Dial 5 is at the top. Heavy-handed repairs have been carried out in this area. The gnomon hole is in the mortar line, with 4 defined radials and traces of 1 or 2 more. There’s a hint of an arc LRQ, perhaps the remains of a semi-circle.

DIAL 6

The lowest dial of the 3. Again the gnomon is in the mortar line. It looks as though the dial stone must have split vertically at some time. 3 lines LRQ, the noon line less deeply cut. The single line LLQ corresponds to the Mass time Terce.

DIAL 7 (?)

Dial 7 is (as others note) a doubtful dial, and I share reservations. It would certainly work in a most rustic way, with a stick in the large hole and the smaller indentation below denoting noon. However, in a multi-dial church one might expect something rather more complex or decorative..

DIAL 8 (?)

Again, this design is taken to be a dial, which it may well be. I’ve never seen one quite like it, with a short arc at one side with no sign of a semi- or complete circle. The large deep hole has a minimal cut at noon, hardly a call to prayer. I wonder if this is in fact apotropaic in purpose, a protection symbol to ward off evil.

DIAL 9 (?)

I originally discounted this as a dial but reviewing photographs made me look more closely. The slapped-on filler helps to the extent that it suggests a gnomon hole in the mortar line that was large enough to need filling. There is a faint near-vertical that might be a noon line with a pock to mark it; and a hint of a line with a pock at roughly 9 / Terce. Doubtful.

SEMI-CIRCLES

Although these semi-circles are generally included in mentions of the dials of St Peter’s, I have reservations, in particular for the double circle in the fine archway. It is very large for a scratch dial, and the church is quite small to require such a one. There are no marks – radials, pocks, numbers – to suggest use as a dial. I wonder if is an example of simple compass-drawn decoration on a large scale. Also the blocked door and its arch are set back, with a buttress in front on either side. The position is a most unlikely one for enabling the community to mark the passage of the day.

This double semi-circle is more dial-ish, but is still quite large, with (it seems) damage but no relevant dial marks. Too small in diameter to be the other half of the semicircle above.

A segment of a single circle on the edge of a clean-edged stone, clearly re-sited at some time. If a dial, one would expect there to be lines / pocks in the lower half ie from 6 to noon.

NOT-A-DIALS

I include these without conviction that any one of them is a dial. The top one, similar to Dial 8 above and on the same kind of stone, is simply a shallow hole. There’s no hint of another relevant mark.

A very helpful analysis by the Parish Council of the dials of St Peter is recommended HERE

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Multiple Dials

All photos: Keith Salvesen; Winterbourne Stoke PC (A. Shuttleworth)

GORWELL BARN . DORSET – Hexfoil / Daisy Wheel & Church Marks

Published on October 12, 2023October 13, 2023 by Rolling Harbour3 Comments

GORWELL BARN . DORSET

The barn is part of Gorwell Farm about 3m N of Abbotsbury, deep within the folds of steep hills, with ancient trackways, a stone circle, and strewn with sarsen stones. It has several uses, including as an excellent wedding venue; a lecture venue in particular for historical, geological, and similar types of research; and an educational centre.

The barn is C17 and has been sympathetically restored. During the process, work on the interior walls uncovered a fine hexfoil, and stones with graffiti and other marks. These are usually associated with churches, but barns were also ornamented in this way.

This is not a dial post, but it fits in with the ancillary purpose of including related matters of interest (see MENU and the various subcategories)

HEXFOIL

Hexfoils (hexafoils), also called daisy wheels or petals, are not uncommon. They are mostly found in churches; less often in secular buildings. Generally they are compass-drawn and symmetrical. There are three main theories to explain them, not mutually exclusive.

1. A form of Consecration Cross (an attribution given eg to the fine hexfoil at St Mary, Cerne Abbas, Dorset below). However, the many thousands of conventional crosses on churches all over the country suggest that there would be little need for a large daisy wheel except perhaps in a significant church. Often there are several on a church, each marking a particular event such as a Bishop’s visit or blessing. The maximum is generally 12, though a few churches (eg St Mary, Holnest, Dorset) have 14.

2. Symbols created by masons in the course of construction, a theory debunked firmly by medieval graffiti expert Matthew Champion on several irrefutable grounds.

3. Ritual protection marks (apotropaic symbols) designed to ward off / neutralise evil. To this can be added the concept of the Demon Trap whereby evil is confined within the circle – a line with no end – rendering it powerless.

Hexfoil . St Mary . Cerne Abbas . Dorset

‘4-LEAF CLOVER’ and GEOMETRIC SYMBOLS

I haven’t found such a clear example of a 4-petal style before. It is both decorative and protective: again, evil is attracted to it and then caught by the unbroken lines. Strengthening the case, the design to the left is an eroded example of a fairly common protection mark. These involve a geometric shape – usually a rectangle – with a pattern of joined dots. More complex ones look something like a square solitaire board.

SEMICIRCLE

This looks compass drawn. There is a hole on the lowest part of the circumference which – if a sundial – would be significant as marking noon.

MISCELLANEOUS GRAFFITI

GSS Category: Hexfoil; Daisy Wheel; Church Marks; Graffiti; Secular apotropaic symbols

All photos Keith Salvesen, and remembering the Sarsen Stone project

CLYFFE PYPARD . WILTS . ST PETER – Scratch Dials

Published on August 5, 2023 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

ST PETER . CLYFFE PYPARD . WILTS

GRADE I † C13 (recorded 1273), C15 nave & tower. C19 restorations (Butterfield). In a lovely position below a wooded stretch of the cliff PEV. Pevsner & his wife Lola are buried together in the churchyard**. Interior has much of interest: pulpit 1629; excellent monuments C13 on, medieval stained glass. 7m SW of Swindon. 51.4917 / -1.8939 / SU074769

DIALS

As one approaches the porch from the lych-gate, there are two very visible dials, one on either side of the entrance. A third dial in that area is noted (eg BLB / HE). In fact there are more dials, but when I visited, finding them involved negotiating overgrown bushes and parting tree branches in light drizzle. There are also some dial-ish designs – eroded or incomplete – that are doubtful, but are included below for consideration.

DIALS 1 & 2

Dial 1 is LHS of the porch. This large dial is encircled, with the upper segment encroaching on the stone above. There are 7 / 8 lines, two of which are ULQ (so, not useful). The noon line extends well below the circumference and through a partial double circle. I think this is the BLB / HE third dial, though I think it is more a doodle than a dial. The emphasised line LLQ may mark Terce. The oddly inaccurately cut lines R of the noon line seem surprisingly casual for such a prominent dial.

Dial 2 is the counterpart of Dial 1, and far simpler. The overall design suggests that it is on its side, 90º anti-clockwise, perhaps re-sited.

DIAL 3

Obscured by foliage, Dial 3 is unconventional. The clear-cut circumference surrounds a single line with a dot at each end, slightly tilted from the horizontal. On the curve RHQ is a dot roughly corresponding to the Mass-time None. In the centre is a blocked gnomon hole. There are no lines or other markers of the passage of the day. In a sense , there is no necessity for lines to mark the hours – a stick’s shadow is almost as helpful.

DIAL 4

Dial 4 is largely hidden by foliage. Unusually, it consists of 4 concentric circles. These are now badly eroded; one is a trace only. Apart from the central gnomon hole, there are no other visible dial attributes: no lines, no pocks.

This type of dial is not unusual. Here is a similar dial in FOVANT Wilts, with 2 concentric circles and no other marks than the gnomon hole. However, I ought to mention that some consider that such designs are not dials, but may have a decorative and possibly an apotropaic function.

DIAL 5

Dial 5 (?) – if a dial – is a classic ‘drainpipe’ example, in part concealed by a more modern addition to the church wall. There must be some doubt here because it is hard to see how it – with the arc of a circle below – would have worked.

DIAL 6?

Dark and damp, this stone was difficult to read. If a dial, it is contained within a square with the top side being the mortar line. In favour of dial status is the location of the dial stone beside a window and the position of the dial; traces of a circle; a pock directly on the circumference LHS roughly corresponding with Terce; and the fact that the design is quite accurately framed as if to display it better. Equally, there are reasons to discount it.

OTHER DIAL CANDIDATES and CHURCH MARKS

Another interesting part double circle, endearingly wonky. Very doubtful as a dial. Most interesting for the graffito UR, which may be a simple form of a type of ritual protection symbol that consists of rectangles with line and dot patterns.

The two marks on this stone – with variations – are quite often used as protection marks.

Note again the the double curves RHS. Most probably an incised design, rather than a dial.

Further evidencing the incidence of protection symbols is this Marian VV mark close to Dial 2.

The handsome bier kept in the church, and in excellent condition.

**In 1951 Pevsner published the first volumes of his magnum opus, The Buildings of England, an enterprise that took nearly 25 years to complete. The substantial Wiltshire volume was recently revised, expanded, and published in 2021

GSS Category: Scratch Dials; Mass Dials ; Multiple Dials

All photos: Keith Salvesen

FENITON . DEVON . ST ANDREW – 3 Scratch Dials & Church Marks

Published on April 14, 2023April 15, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST ANDREW . FENITON . DEVON

GRADE II* † Norman origins; rebuilding C15 & early C16; substantial restoration 1877. A church that repays one’s interest, with an intriguing Rood screen / reredos repositioning conundrum; and unusual chest tomb: on top lies the effigy of an emaciated cadaver partly covered by a shroud BLB. 14m E of Exeter, 5m W of Honiton. 50.7875 / -3.2659 / SY108994

DIALS

St Andrew has 3 scratch dials, the most obvious being visible from the lych gate and as one approaches S porch. The other 2 dials, very close together, are remarkable and probably unique (certainly so as a pair). Dial 3 may be doubtful. An additional basic but dial-ish scratching is shown below, as are various other church marks including a good example of a Consecration cross.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 on the porch buttress is a straightforward design and easy to make out, but damaged and cement patched UR. There are 13 lines, some now very faint. The angles are more or less accurate at 15º. The vertical / noon line is not emphasised in any way, which is slightly unusual. The main Mass was presumably Terce, marked with a deeper cut line LHS. The gnomon hole has been filled with a rather well-chosen rounded arrow design; it is modern yet respectful of its purpose.

DIAL 2

Dials 2 & 3 are adjacent low down on the same porch buttress as Dial 1. It is a remarkable juxtaposition. BSS suggests they are early dials – pre-1400?

Dial 2 consists of a pattern of pocks contained within what could be termed geometrically as the major segment of a circle. The horizontal line is incised more deeply. BSS suggests that 13 pocks are identifiably associated with the dial, with a few random ones besides. The quite shallow gnomon hole in such a small design presumably contained a stud rather than a rod.

A noon line is seemingly marked by the sightly offset double pocks just R of the vertical. Theres’s also a very small pock directly above the gnomon hole, conceivably a decorative-use-only marker for midnight and symmetry.

DIAL 3

Dial 3 The BSS entry for this little configuration of dots describes a semi-circle of 8 pocks, with other associated pocks and no obvious gnomon hole. It concludes closely related to dial no. 2, possibly never used as a dial.

Perhaps it is not a dial at all. The rather untidy part-circle curves away NE after noon – pointlessly, if part of a dial. BSS notes that there is no central style hole. There is a single pock inside the perimeter that might have held a stud – but unlikely to be much use in that position. Some might suspect unserious pattern-copying efforts along the lines of Dial 2.

St Andrew . Feniton . Devon – Scratch Dial 3

My amateur reading of this buttress as a whole is firstly, that the low stone on which Dials 2 & 3 are located is not its original location. At some stage during all the rebuilding and restoration over the centuries it was re-sited. The little dial that ‘worked’ was then too low and would anyway have been an obsolete design. It was therefore superseded by a far larger, more modern (? mid C16) and very visible dial, accurately cut and ideal for marking the passage of the day for a larger, better educated community in a more modern era. Comparatively.

DIAL 4?

Both lines seem deliberately scratched. One is approximately vertical, the other could mark the Mass time Terce (cf Dial 1). The lines diverge from the mortar line, as do many simple dials – it means not having to drill a dial gnomon into stone. I have seen less convincing 2-line versions that have been recorded as dials. I am slightly in favour of it being a dial.

CONSECRATION CROSS

This is a good example of a rural consecration cross, incised on a buttress between 2 windows. From a distance the design might mislead and be seen as four petals, rather than a compass drawn cross. There are hints of an outer circle. This is a fairly common type of cross, but good see one that is relatively unworn. The four distinct quarters rule out ID as a protective hexfoil, although there is a similarity.

GRAFFITI

Graffiti on two adjacent stones, one example dated ?1675

PROTECTION MARK

This is very likely a ritual protection mark / apotropaic symbol designed both to prevent evil from entering the church, and to repel it. For that reason they are most often found inside or near porches. I haven’t encountered the pattern below before, but a group of dots with some joined by deep cut lines is a commonly found design – see an example from Dorset below.

Ritual Protection Mark . Stouton Caundle . Dorset

GSS Categories: Scratch Dial, Mass Dial, Consecration Cross, Ritual Protection Mark, Medieval Graffiti

All photos: Keith Salvesen

EMACIATED CADAVER

NORTH CADBURY . SOM . ST MICHAEL – Scratch Dials

Published on March 18, 2023March 18, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE I † Mainly early C15, some older fragments; later restorations. A huge church for a small village. Simon Jenkins awards it ** and with good reason. Wonderful bench ends, not to be missed. See BLB for more. Midway between Wincanton and Ilchester. 51.0417 / -2.5214 / ST635270

DIALS

DEH visited in April 1914 and recorded 3 dials, all on S facing buttresses, one close to the priest’s door. They are very eroded. There are possible remnants of 2 further dials, mentioned below.

DIAL 1

St Michael . North Cadbury . Som. – Scratch Dial

DEH 169. (1) This dial is on the first buttress w. of the s. porch. It is 5 feet above the ground, the noon line is 4 inches in length, the stylehole is 5/8 of an inch in depth by 1/2 an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15° e.

Located on the buttress W of S porch. An obvious style hole with a semicircle (6 – 6) of unobtrusive small pocks. Photography has its limitations and St Michael tested them. Records mention 13 to 16 pocks. One can just make out the faintest of traces of lines at noon and 2.

BSS suggests a possible dial immediately above. Assuming a style hole in the mortar line, there are a few pocks in the immediate area, but rather disorganised. Doubtful rather than plausible.

DIAL 2

DEH 170. (2) This dial is on the first buttress E. of the s. porch. It is 4 feet 10 inches above the ground, the noon line is 3 inches in length, the style hole is about 11/2 inches in depth by 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The aspect is s. by 15° e.

As with Dial 1, very eroded and with little visible detail even when one is quite close. There are 8 detectable lines with a perimeter of pocks, probably (BSS) 13 with extra pocks at 8.30 and 10.30 – presumably Mass indicators.

DIAL 3

DEH 171. (3) This dial is on a buttress e. of the priest’s door. It is 5 feet 8 inches above the ground, the noon line is 4 1/4 inches in length, the style hole is 7/8 of an inch in depth and 1/2 an inch in diameter, and the aspect is s. by 15° e.

Situated on S side of the chancel, on the buttress E of the Priests’ door. There are 13 lines and a full complement of 24 pocks. The line angles are at approx 15º intervals. BSS notes a possible ‘tiny dial’ above it.

MEDIEVAL GRAFFITI

The porch contains the original stone benches on either side. These are often troves of graffiti, in particular apotropaic symbols and other ritual protection marks designed to repel evil or to prevent its entering the church. These signs are quite common to find in other locations both outside and inside a church (see HERE). However, in many churches, stone benches were replaced in succeeding centuries. St Michael has retained the benches, on which there are excellent examples of marks that are relatively rare. There are hands here, and a medieval swastika (a Sanskrit word) from several centuries before its more recent symbolic adoption. It incorporates a repelling circle mark, where evil may be captured within its continuous circumference.

GSS Category: Scratch Dials; Mass Dials; Bench Ends; Medieval Graffiti; Apotropaic Symbols

All photos: Keith Salvesen

BINSEY . OXFORD . ST MARGARET of ANTIOCH – 2 Scratch Dials

Published on March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MARGARET of ANTIOCH . BINSEY . OXFORD

GRADE I † C12 origins on site of Saxon church; c13 rebuilding (chancel, nave), S porch added; C15 & later restorations (latest in 1936). Unheated and candlelit until 1975. Much of interest – remarkably secluded location, a Holy well, a direct link with Alice in Wonderland, an excellent riverside pub. Within ring road W of Oxford, N of Botley Road, at the end of a mile of narrow lane. Check a map before you go… 51.7691 / 1.2976 / SP485080

❖ The clearest illustrated article about St Margaret, its history, and its significance can be found at David Ross’s excellent BRITAIN EXPRESS. This includes the sad story of the celibate St Frideswide (C7), Patron Saint of Oxford and a roundabout system, & her suitor Algar. It also covers the origins of the Holy well, its healing powers and its link to Alice’s ‘treacle well’. An informed tour of the church ends with helpful directions to it.

DIALS

DIAL 1

On the quoin RHS of the porch entrance, with a large slightly recessed gnomon hole. A morning dial, very eroded in the 3 other quadrants. Originally encircled (BSS)? The visible evidence of a complete circle is scant. 8 lines, some extending over split stone. The noon line is emphasised – longer and deeper cut. A hint of double pocks at lower end – just possibly a dotted cross ✣?

DIAL 2

Located on the nave buttress adjoining the chancel. 4 lines radiating from a central hole in the dial stone, one slightly curved; 7 clear pocks all on or at the end of the lines. Unlike dial 1, there is no exact vertical line. The puzzle is to identify the noon line. On some dials, there is a notional noon line formed by a narrow gap between 2 near-vertical lines – not the case here. Presumably it is line 2, being extended and having 2 pocks. Line 3 is too flimsy for the task. Line 1 presumably marks a service time between Terce and noon.

ST MARGARET’S WELL

GRAFFITI ANCIENT & MODERN

There is a certain amount of graffiti in the porch, some of which is not medieval. Included are initials, 2 (unconvincing?) inverted Marian marks; and some scratchings of hard-to-decipher script, something I haven’t often seen.

After your visit you may need refreshment: I recommend the excellent nearby PERCH INN

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Medieval Graffiti

All photos: Keith Salvesen

COWLEY . OXON . ST JAMES THE APOSTLE – Scratch Dials

Published on February 27, 2023February 28, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

St James . Cowley . Oxford (Parish Website – link below)

GRADE II* † Mid C12 – C15; early frescoes; 1860s work by G.E. Street with additions & rebuilding. Remarkably squat tower, C15. Unexpectedly up a secluded narrow lane just E of the bustle of Cowley – no one would guess that there is a C12 building there. 51.7306 / -1.2197 / SP539038

DIALS

There are 2 dials, both inside the porch on either side of the entrance door. Disappointingly the porch gate was locked, so I could not get access. The photos of the pair taken late in the day are distinctly underwhelming…

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is inside S porch LHS of the doorway, in the corner below the springing of the arch and above the moulding. 4 lines radiating from the style hole, with the noon line deeper cut.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is also inside S porch, RHS of the doorway and above the capital of the pillar. There are 6 lines radiating from a quite noticeable style hole. BSS suggests there are 3 pocks (possibly more), though I could not see those details.

OTHER MARKS

Besides the dials, there was a certain amount of graffiti with other scratchings in the area of the porch, not all of it medieval. There are a couple of Marian marks and what may be a very crude pentagram, a symbol to repel evil.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial

All photos (for what they are worth) Keith Salvesen except header image from St James Parish website (their excellent photo replaces my poor ones taken from a different angle); and BSS (2 images)

QUARLEY . HANTS . ST MICHAEL – Scratch Dial

Published on February 11, 2023February 12, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE II* † Cll Saxon / Norman origins with simple nave – some features survive; C15 chancel; later additions / restoration 1882. A most surprising Palladian / Venetian E window. Detached timber-framed bell cote. Attractively set in a well-wilded churchyard. 6m W of Andover. 51.1944 / -1.611 / SU272439

DIAL

The dial is on the W jamb of the window E of the porch, first recorded by ARG in 1925. The gnomon hole is filled. ARG’s description is below. The more recent BSS entry records 19 visible / detectable lines and 21 pocks, with possible hints of a circle. On either view, this is an eroded 24-hour dial (esp URQ), with noon marked by a quincunx (like 5 on a die), which I haven’t seen before. One puzzle is why the dial was cut in such a position that it is truncated RHS.

ARG noted two very doubtful dials on the E jamb of the same window; and in his text he refers to another doubtful on the buttress of the S Chapel. I couldn’t make out dials.

*St Michael . Quarley . Hants – Scratch Dial* *with Quincunx*

There was another mark that caught my eye, a small uneven circle of pocks. There’s no hint of a central hole. As I visit more churches, I see more of these little markings. They can’t be dials, and they seem unlikely to be purely decorative. My tentative theory is these little pock circles are a form of protection mark / apotropaic symbol). However I haven’t yet found such a design featured in the usual medieval building mark resources. Any theories welcome.

*St Michael . Quarley . Hants – circle of pock marks*

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

HOLNEST . DORSET . ST MARY – Rare windowsill scratch dial; protection marks & graffiti

Published on January 12, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

GRADE I † Late C14, C15; C17 alterations inc. porch with date 1650 on keystone. Restorations mid-C19. Very recent skilled restoration 2020. Millennial dial with date-casting gnomon (cf BUCKLAND NEWTON). C18 box pews, candlelit services, Purdue bell c1580. Graffiti and witch marks. 14 formy consecration crosses both outside and inside (see locations below). A perfect small Dorset church standing alone, remnant of a plague village. There has been a recent very skilful restoration that has not impacted on the original charm of St Mary. 6m S of Sherborne. 50.8868 / -2.4902 / ST656098

SCRATCH DIAL

A remarkable and very rare C15 dial, possibly unique (cf nearby THORNFORD). It is located on a window sill of the S aisle, incised at an angle of 35º. It is quite difficult to examine – even close to – because of erosion and lichen. The style hole is centred on the stone divide between 2 windows. To be effective it must have been angled forwards: C15 dial deliberately positioned centrally. Gnomon must have been bent over, perhaps horizontally. Lines are quite accurately cut GLP.

There were originally 12 lines – the full complement for a semicircular dial. However, many are so weathered that they are barely visible – some not at all. The church is across the fields from us and I have spent some time with the dial, examining it and photographing it at different angles and in different light. I’ve managed to identify 8 lines including the horizontals, much as shown on the second BSS diagram below. The most visible lines are these:

*St Mary . Holnest . Dorset – diagram of scratch dial on window-sill*

*St Mary . Holnest . Dorset – scratch dial* diagrams BSS

VERTICAL DIAL

The porch has a date of 1650 and a new [millennium] sundial commemorates the Great Crested Newt that meant that a field nearby could not be developed for housing. Friends of Holnest Church.

A particularly good example of a meaningful local dial designed specifically for its location and time. The Battle of the Newt being won as the new Millennium approached, a fine dial to record both events was fully merited.

*St Mary Holnest:* millennial vertical dial dated 2000 with unique Newt Protection Symbol

WITCH MARKS & GRAFFITI

*St Mary . Holnest . Dorset – witch marks, Marian marks, graffiti*

The S porch has a rich variety of medieval church marks. The example stones shown above have witch / ritual protection / apotropaic marks to ward off evil, in particular a number of Marian marks VV (Virgo Virginum / Virgin of Virgins). There are also initials and C17 dates.

CONSECRATION CROSSES

There are 14 in all, 12 being the usual maximum. 5 are inside the church on the tower walls

Consecration Crosses: On chancel— flanking E. window externally, four crosses; flanking S. doorway, two crosses. On nave—W. of heads of N. windows, two crosses. On S. aisle—over E. window and W. of S. window, two crosses. On W. tower, on N. and S. walls, one cross and below W. window, two crosses; formy crosses fourteen in all, mediæval. BHO

*St Mary . Holnest . Dorset – Consecration Crosses*

GSS Category: Scratch Dial, Mass Dial; Church Marks, Witch Marks, Protection Marks; Consecration Crosses

All photos: Keith Salvesen

STEEPLE . DORSET . ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS – Di[a]lemma

Published on January 4, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS . STEEPLE . DORSET

GRADE 1 † C12 origins (nave), enlarged C16 & C17. Mid-C19 restorations; chancel rebuilt. Despite the village name, C16 tower. Fascinating history, with strong links to George Washington: The Lawrence family, Lords of the Manor since the C16, married into the Washington family in 1381 and their Coat of Arms incorporates the Stars and Stripes BLB. Much of interest inside inc an impressive barrel organ, and good stained glass E window. Fine chest tombs in the churchyard. 6m S of Wareham, inland from the jurassic coastline at Kimmeridge. 50.6275 / -2.1265 / SY911808

DIAL

In his 1997 survey GLP noted a single dial relocated to the N wall of the Chancel, E of blocked N doorway. He described it as doubtful – superficially a poorly preserved dial… with 2 lines on a reshaped stone… no gnomon hole, probably relocated during C19 work on the chancel. He found other stones in the vicinity with similar markings – perhaps through weathering – and concluded that the ‘dial’ might not actually be a genuine one at all.

As with a couple of other Dorset churches recently, I couldn’t pinpoint a design such as GLP describes. There are obvious lines or striations on some stones eg top R of the doorway (see below), but little to report on the wall E of the door. The lack of a gnomon hole is one reason for missing eroded dials. This lack may also reinforce doubts about identifying dial-ish marks as being part of a dial. Anyway, if there is one, I missed it.

The dilemma has been whether to post, rather pointlessly, a failed dial search. However this small secluded church has other merits. It earned its Grade I listing for special architectural or historic interest. I have included a few photos below to illustrate this. The Washington link is only one of the significant features.

*St Michael . Steeple . Dorset* – *North Doorway*

IMAGES OF ST MICHAEL AS COMPENSATION

Chest Coffins in the churchyard; crude apotropaic (part-)hexfoil of uncertain age; Marian VV ‘witch’ mark inside the porch; 2 examples of the E window stained glass (image 2 shows dice used for the division of Christ’s robe); the barrel organ