Geograph - photograph every grid square

The church dates from the 12th Century onwards.
The three stage tower was built in the 16th century.
The church consists of a north aisle with Norman arches, south aisle with 13C arches, nave, 14C chancel and tower, porch, roof of nave and font from 15C. The Victorians carried out extensive repairs including the north windows, chancel roof but not the east wall. The chancel has also been shortened, possibly in the 18C. The east window is 15th century and has three lights.
There are fragments of 13th C. stained glass in the south aisle east window and also in the north window of the chancel. The south door has been dated to late 14C. pre-dating the porch. Lead graffiti at the back of the church, taken from the roof, suggests leading villagers and church wardens with access to the roof. There is also other graffiti on pillars at the west end and in the porch, which is 16th century and features a defaced gargoyle with a ruff.
There are 17th century carved chairs in the chancel.
The south aisle has 15th century tomb recess with damaged decoration. There is also a tomb recess in the chancel.

The dedication of this church changed from St Andrew to St Bartholomew in the 19th Century.

Many churches have, scratched in the stone, patterns of circles, crosses, and mystic signs. After literacy became more common, names and dates started to appear.


The name 'medieval graffiti' has been given to these vernacular carvings, but some of the dated ones have 17th and 18th century origins, and I have seen one dated 1952.

It has been suggested that these represent an attempt to associate people with the place, in the hope of a safe return from pilgrimage or war. No-one really knows. It may simply be the same determination to 'make one's mark' that led schoolboys to carve their desks, or modern youth to get out the spray paint. But some of them must have taken a lot of time to complete, perhaps in more than one session, suggesting that the local church authorities were tolerant of this practice, that it was culturally normal.

The phenomenon is not unique to churches, as roadside crosses sometimes fall victim. Curiously it does seem to be confined to stonework of communal ownership, you don't see it done on people's homes or gravestones.

There is a web site called "Medieval Graffiti" which is owned by a project recording the phenomenon in Norfolk, but similar carvings have been found all over the country, although largely ignored by historians up to now.


Norfolk: Link
Suffolk: Link
Lincolnshire: Link
Surrey: Link
East Sussex: Link
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire: Link

BBC story: Link
Blog: Link