Silent Sunday #19

 

More Grotesques

For my first post looking at Grotesques, please read Gargoyles and Grotesques.

Dunstable Priory, Bedfordshire

 

St Mary’s, Keysoe, Bedfordshire

(May have been a gargoyle at some point)

St Mary’s, Shrewsbury

Gargoyles and Grotesques

I have always loved and been inspired by church architecture, and one feature of churches that I love above all others are grotesques.

Grotesques are stone carvings, often strange, distorted or fantastical in appearance.  Their purpose was said to be twofold: to protect a building by frightening away evil spirits and to serve as a reminder to parishioners of the ever-present danger of falling into evil.

I took this photo of the grotesque in St Michaels and All Angels, Edmondthorpe, Leicestershire a couple of weeks ago.  This church is in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust.

Gargoyles are a form of grotesque, the difference that separates them is that a gargoyle will have a water spout coming out of its mouth in order to direct water away from the sides of a building, where over time it will cause damage.

This is one of the gargoyles from St Peters church in Tempsford, Bedfordshire. You can just see the start of the water pipe protruding from its mouth…

The same carving as above, showing the water spout and face of the gargoyle…