Church Marks – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

ALCISTON CHURCH . W SUSSEX . NO DEDICATION – 4 Scratch Dials

Published on May 9, 2023May 10, 2023 by Rolling Harbour2 Comments

GRADE I † Saxon origins; DB as Aelfsige. Dedication unknown. Dated to C14 (BLB notes C13 chancel & porch). C19 restoration. Incumbents recorded from 1353. In a most attractive setting down a long path, and grouped with a large medieval tithe barn, dovecote &co. 8m E of Lewes, 6m W of Polegate. 50.8299 / 0.1369 / TQ505055

DIALS

All 4 dials are cut on either side of the blocked S doorway of the nave. 1 LHS and 3 RHS, of which an adjacent pair are low down, almost at ground level.

DIAL 1

On the L jamb of the blocked doorway, the most advanced and clearest of the 4 dials. Mid-C15? Encircled, with a full cross of vertical (12-12) and horizontal (6-6) lines emphasised by deeper incision. The lower half has 6 additional lines (and hints of a couple more). A single line UR quadrant divides it fairly accurately. The gnomon hole is (now) rather large for the size of the dial but that may have happened in the course of its history.

DIAL 2

RHS of the doorway, the same height as Dial 1. A much simpler dial with 2 lines only. The worn circle contains just 2 lines LLQ, one faint and the other deeper cut. Possibly the faint line was originally the marker for Mass, and was superseded by a more visible line (hand-cut without a rule, it would seem).

Alciston Church . E Sussex – Scratch Dial 2

DIALS 3 & 4

Just above ground level are 2 enjoyable dials on the same stone, presumably re-sited from a more visible position. However the stone sits comfortably with the overall design of the doorway, so I wonder whether all the dials (or those RHS) were moved to their present position when the doorway was blocked / during restoration?

The dials are adjacent – in fact, contiguous. Both circles are endearingly wonky, though the lines are cleanly cut. Dial 3 has been more carefully incised, with some attention paid to accuracy. Dial 4 probably came first and the more sophisticated Dial 3 later replaced it.

Dial 3 has 2 small dotted crosses within its circumference, also suggesting a later date than Dial 4. One cross consists of 4 separate dots; the other has the dots connected by lines (the vertical is very faint).

Alciston Church . E Sussex – Scratch Dial 3 & 4

DIALS 2, 3, and 4 as a group

Alciston is one of several rewarding churches in the area for a visit. You could combine it with climbing Firle Beacon which, at a height of 217m, counts as a Marilyn.

Frederick Barrett – Sussex Archaeological Collections 100 1962

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Medieval Sundial; Dotted Cross graffiti

Photos: Keith Salvesen except as shown; Church Information appreciated

AXMOUTH . DEVON . ST MICHAEL – 3 Scratch Dials

Published on April 22, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MICHAEL . AXMOUTH . DEVON

GRADE I † C12 origins (nave, chancel), gradual expansion C13, C14 and C15; restoration 1889. Norman doorway with fine Tympanum (long predating the inscription 1698). Good C15 wall paintings.Very close to the estuary, perfect for a walk or a bird-watch. 6m W of Lyme Regis. 50.7142 / -3.0546 / SY256910

DIALS

Three dials are recorded for St Michael. They are all similar and, unlike most multi-dial churches, their design give little sense of developing methods of marking the passage of the day.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is located on the E quoin stone of the transept, with the gnomon hole in the mortar line. There are 3 distinct radials, and a 4th that is a faint trace. BSS records include the comment Rescratched and false gnomon added.

The last record is dated 1994, since when the false gnomon has been removed. I have used an image from then; the dial is less easy to see now. The diagram below has a theoretical perimeter and time marks for a complete dial. The note no noon [line] is slightly surprising. Radial 3 looks vertical and possibly bifurcated in re-scratching.

DIAL 2

Dial 2 is cut on the Chancel chapel, E end of the wall, on a quoin stone. There are 4 lines radiating from a filled gnomon hole in the mortar line

In close-up (below) it is just possible to see that line 3 (L to R) is longer than the others. That could suggest a noon line incised slightly off true vertical. If so, on this simple dial it might be a casual approach to the medieval daylight hours. On a later, more sophisticated dial, it might represent a way to achieve accuracy on a church that was not square on to the true SWNE footprint.

DIAL 3

Also situated on the wall of the chancel chapel, and again radiating from the mortar line. BSS notes 4 lines, but 2 cannot now be detected. However the suggestion that noon is marked by double lines is plausible. This might be for emphasis (as with a terminal pock or cross); or because the vertical was re-scratched.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

Photos. Keith Salvesen; diagram and other material, BSS

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)

CHISBURY CHAPEL . WILTS . ST MARTIN – Consecration Cross, Graffiti & Protection Marks

Published on February 15, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

CHISBURY CHAPEL . WILTS

C13 chapel located within an Iron-age hill fort Chisbury Camp. The Lord of the Manor built it to assert his social status by allowing the household of the manor, as well as local people, to attend services and pay their taxes without having to travel to the parish church at Great Bedwyn EH. Thatched, with flint walls. The chapel was deconsecrated in 1547 and after three centuries of use as a barn it was reduced to its present dilapidated state. It is however a scheduled Ancient Monument, now in the care of English Heritage.

CONSECRATION CROSS

GRAFFITI & MARIAN MARKS (VV)

There was no scratch dial and I wasn’t expecting to find one. However the chapel is interesting enough to merit inclusion, not least because consercation crosses and church marks generally are catered for in this project.

1. shows a (possible? probable?) Fleur de Lys with G Bedwyn scrawled below – 2. is one form of protection mark – 3. enclosed initials – 4. Marian mark VV – 5. ‘scratchings’ – 6. Marian mark VV and a design with a heart that I initially thought must make it recent… However the form of the W (similar to a Marian mark) is from a much earlier time, as is the date (if it is one) in Roman numerals. I can’t decipher it beyond ..15

GSS Category: Consecration Cross; Church Marks; Marian Symbol; Medieval Graffiti

All photos: Keith Salvesen

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

FIDDLEFORD MANOR . DORSET – Hexfoils, Graffiti, Ritual Protection Marks

Published on January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Fiddleford Manor Dorset - Medieval Graffiti — Fiddleford Manor . Sturminster Newton . Dorset

FIDDLEFORD MANOR . STURMINSTER NEWTON . DORSET

GRADE I † C14 The principal parts of a small stone manor house, built c1370 for the Sheriff of Somerset & Dorset. It has undergone many changes since, but the splendid timber roofs over the great hall and solar… (remain intact). Scheduled as an Ancient Monument. Under the care of English Heritage Two miles E of Sturminster Newton. 50.9213 / -2.2847 / ST800135

The most spectacular medieval manor house interior in Dorset PEV, an authoritative opinion that will never be challenged. There is no dial here, but the amazing graffiti could equally be found in a church, though generally not in such profusion. Besides dials of all kinds, this site includes medieval building marks – symbols, initials, dates, other graffiti. These categories can be found in the Menus on the front page. However, Fiddleford manor is so special that it deserves its own main entry rather than being relegated to a sub-menu.

HEXFOILS

MARIAN MARKS

GRAFFITI

GSS Category: Church Marks; Marian Marks; Ritual Protection; Hexfoils; Medieval Graffiti

All photos: Keith Salvesen

SHIPTON BELLINGER . HANTS . ST PETER – Scratch Dials

Published on January 21, 2023February 11, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST PETER . SHIPTON BELLINGER . HANTS

GRADE II † C14 origins; very little remains of the original church. Almost all refaced, restored (Withers 1879) or rebuilt. Registers date from mid-C16. Attractive with its squat wooden bell turret. Just N of A303 between Andover and Amesbury. 51.2076 / -1.6678 / SU233454

DIALS

There are 2 dials recorded for St Peter, of quite different types. Dial 1 is a simple filled hole in the centre of a circle, without additional markings. Dial 2 is a sector of a fairly large dial that must have covered 2 or more stones.

DIAL 1

Dial 1 is inside the porch L of the doorway, quite low down. It consists of a filled central hole within a circle, with a pock (possibly unrelated) ULQ. With a rod as a gnomon, it would work as a basic marker of the the passing day, though at an inconvenient level if in its original position. The unusual shape of the large dial stone also suggests a significant relocation somewhere in the time-line of the various building works. One record dates the dial to C11, which seems unrealistic – it predates the known origins of the church. Also noted were faint traces of a similar circle LLQ, but I could not detect anything significant. There is a further possibility that, rather than a dial, this design is one of the many forms of ritual protection mark. However the size and the filled hole suggest not.

DIAL 2

Located on S wall of the Nave, E of door, W of E Nave buttress, and about 2m high. All that can be seen is the LLQ part-perimeter of a quite large dial (if it is one) cut in the upper R corner of a large stone with no discernible dial-ish markings. Basically it is a plain quarter-circle using the mortar lines for the straights, and with a gnomon hole (not now obvious) in upper R corner. To work as a dial in that (or in any different) position, it would have required one additional stone if a semicircle; or at least 2 more if a complete circle. The absence of any lines or pocks on this fragment militates against it being part of a scratch dial. It would have been hard to resist using such a large blank area as a creative area for a proper dial design. Quite plausibly, this curved incision was part of some decorative feature displaced during rebuilding, with companion stones used elsewhere where needed.