1/14/2024 0 Comments Echoes shoesInitials, dates, crosses, compass drawn designs – all jostling for space next to the lime-wash, which undoubtedly covers over many other examples. If you take the time to look, you will see that the base of the tower, and the walls of the fifteenth century porch, are all covered in a mass of markings. In England its use stretches all the way back to the twelfth century, when it was seen as an alternative to the cross or crucifix.Īnd these aren’t the only marks to be found here. This symbol isn’t exactly common amongst medieval church graffiti, but it is found elsewhere in church architecture and decoration. On the stonework at the base of the tower can be seen an elaborate knotwork design – sometimes referred to as a ‘pelta’ or ‘Solomon’s knot’. Ghostly echoes of the congregation who once filled this building, leaving marks of their faith and devotion scratched into the stonework itself. Even in a modest church like Caldecote you can come across faint markings that hark back to the Middle Ages. Yet even here the walls – and even the floors – still have a story to tell, if you just take the time to look closely.Īnd it isn’t just the relatively recent memories of workmen, and commemorations of visits, that are found amongst the graffiti. It is modest in so many respects, and even the village that it was first built to serve has long since been deserted and abandoned. It boasts no magnificent spire, or wealth of stained glass, and despite the survival of its truly beautiful medieval font, the interior is an expanse of plain lime-washed walls. ![]() They are there on the walls themselves, hidden in plain sight amongst the graffiti.Ĭaldecote isn’t a great church. And these stories are there too to be read, no matter how humble and seemingly unimportant. About the individuals who built them, those who prayed and worshipped within their walls, and ultimately, those laid to rest within the church – or God’s Acre outside. About more than the difference between Romanesque and High Gothic, Tudor rebuilding and Victorian restorations. But churches are about more than building phases.
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