Bristol

The Sheela Na Gig?
Suggested sheela figure (Photograph by Keith Jones)

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St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol is located near Bristol Temples Mead Railway Station. The church which dates from 1115, was named from the red cliffs located below the church. During a visit in 1574 Queen Elizabeth I claimed St Mary’s Redcliffe to be : ‘the goodliest, fairest and most famous parish church in England’ St Mary Redcliffe, is a very rich church by any standard. It contains a wealth of stone carvings with several animals, a mermaid, a maze, about forty Green Men, a ‘Man at Stool’, a number of exhibitionists, and the Sheela na Gig.

Cave (1948) in his book ‘Roof Bosses in Medieval Churches’ puts the Sheela above the wall plate, and in the nave. Unfortunately Cave gives no description of the Sheela, and as a result an extensive search of all the 1200 roof bosses produced five candidates. The kneeing figure, and a naked male and female, an anus shower, and another exhibitionist all can be illuminated.

The most likely candidate for the Sheela is located in the next bay to the west from the transept crossing. Face the high north window, locate the roof boss at the apex of the window. Follow the rib, left to the next roof boss, from here follow the next rib right to the next boss which is the Sheela. Martin Lee describes it in his ‘The Boss Walk: A short guide to Roof Bosses of St Mary Redcliffe,’ as ‘Naked man with furrowed brow’. The figure is found with a foliage background, one leg at least wrapped around her neck, and arm, with one hand touching her face, while the other comes to rest at the genital area. It appears as if three fingers are buried into the vagina, while her index finger comes to rest near the anus. Although a very natural looking carving, the figure is bald, thin, and the furrowed brow may represent ageing, C. J. P. Cave seemed very unorthodox with the definition of Sheela na Gigs, accepting South Tawton, and the Wells pair as Sheelas.

Another boss of interest an anus shower is located opposite the Sheela. This figure is wearing a rather elaborate head gear consistent medieval period, also what appears to be a chemise tucked up above the buttocks with puff sleeves. The body is held in a curve with buttocks exposed. There is a hole consistent with an anus, and a vulva or scrotal sac which sags forward.

Keith Jones

Is this a Sheela?

After much searching Keith came up with the figure above which seems to best fit Cave’s criteria. As we know from the Wells figures, Cave’s interpretation of sheela na gig figures is idiosyncratic to say the least. It seems that Keith has found the best candidate for this elusive figure but as with Cave’s other find’s it’s dubious to say the least.

John Harding

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Abson

The Figures

The Abson Male figure
The Abson Male figure

Test

In addition to the male figure on Abson Church The Divine Hag of the Christian Celts also mentions a figure (above) on the tower as a possible sheela.

Keith Jones investigated Abson on the strength of a mention of a sheela na gig from the Erotic Traveller website, convinced that there was a sheela at the site, he came up with the figure on the tower (which from a distance could be mistaken for a sheela similar to that at Church Stretton). Keith has visited the site fairly recently with improved equipment and has begun to have doubts himself. It seems that the figure that the Erotic Traveller website was referring to was in fact the male figure. I recently re-visited the church with an improved telephoto lens on the camera and managed to get the above shot of the figure. As you can see there is nothing really to suggest that the figure is a sheela let alone exhibitionist. In fact it appears to holding a model of something possibly a building or ship. In addition the figure appears to be wearing a feather in a hat.  In retrospect and with the new photo and details both myself and Keith are now of the opinion that the figure is not a sheela at all.

The Abson figure in sheela na gig literature.

This figure now appears in two books on sheela na gigs namely Jack Robert’s “The Divine Hag of the Christian Celts” and Barbara Freitag’s “Sheela na gigs : Unravelling an enigma”. What is not as well known is that this figure only got into the “Divine Hag” because of Keith’s initial mistaken visit. Jack Roberts credits Keith with the discovery in the “Divine Hag. Barbara Freitag admittedly describes the figure as dubious but I feel this one figure we can discount as being a sheela with some certainty.

John Harding

Knotwork Voussoir
Knotwork Voussoir?
Knotwork fragment
Knotwork fragment
The Abson "Female" figure
The Abson “Female” figure

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Grain

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The Figure

The Grain figure has been reported quite a few times as a sheela na gig. When Keith Jones visited the site the local vicar told him the congregation wanted the figure moved as they considered it obscene. When I visited he was under the impression it was a pagan idol. What it actually is, is a fine example of a beard puller which is a common motif in Romanesque church carving (See Images of Lust or Anthony Weir’s website for other examples there is a good example of a mega-phallic beard puller in Santander Spain here). The figure is mistakenly referred to as a “Sheila-na-gig” here. One more example of the term fast coming to mean any anomalous or unusual church carving.

From Keith’s initial photographs there appeared to be faint knotwork or cross hatching in the space between the beard. When I actually visited the figure however I found this was not the case. The figure is very well carved with over long hands and a friendly expression. It has pointed ears and there appears to be some damage to the left hand. There is no other significant carving on the church although there are obvious indications on the walls of the church of a previous structure which appears to be at right angles to the current building. The chancel arch has some zig zag decoration on the pillars which may or may not be Norman but the chancel possesses two small round-headed Norman windows. The tower which appears to be Norman in fact only dates from the 1905. Strangely for a small country church there are no pews nor have there ever been any.

The figure can be found in the porch of St James, Grain in Kent (pictured below) above the main door. From its construction it appears to be a corbel (flat back and top) which has been moved to the porch from somewhere else. The door itself is interesting as it is thought to be very old. Damage on the door was caused by Dutch sailors in 1667 who attempted to break into the church with a view to looting it. The repair to the door was made by the same sailors who were caught and punished by their own officers for the attempted break in. The wood used to make the repair is thought to come from a Dutch man-o-war. Thanks go to the wife of the vicar who showed us round the church on a bitterly cold day. Interestingly she was not aware of the figure even though they had lived there for some time.

The Internet Mystery of The Grain Beard

Every year I get a burst of hits on this webpage from people searching for a “Grain Beard” which was very puzzling. After putting up a note on this page a number of people contacted me with the solution. It turns out that “Grain Beard” is a clue in a crossword book and it seems a syndicated crossword. The answer seems to be “Awn” so please look no further.

 

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Eastry

The Eastry Figure
The Eastry Figure

The Figure

This figure has been recorded as a sheela na gig on the ADS archaeological search site here.
The photos and a lot of the information about this figure have been kindly supplied by Dr Stephen Bax of Canterbury Christ Church University.
The current church is Early English in style and was built in 1230 by the monks of Christ Church Abbey. It has a large tower, the top of which holds an extensive corbel table of mainly abstract designs.  There are a number of loose pieces of sculpture cemented into the buttresses on the church including the alleged sheela na gig (left). The church is also  famous as the location of a alleged picture of a ghost.

The figure is very worn but appears to be a bust with a cleft at the bottom. The cleft may simply be damage but Dr Bax who has seen the figure is of the opinion that it may have been carved. There may also be the remnants of an arm which reaches down one side but the figure is so worn it is very hard to be sure what exactly the “arm” is meant to be. The figure has a headdress or hood which is unusual for a sheela and a band around the neck possibly indicating clothing. The face has a rather glum expression and looks down. The head is large and seems disproportionate to the body. Even though the figure is worn it gives the impression of being female. It’s very hard to say that this figure is a proper Sheela Na Gig. There are no obvious genitals and the cleft, whether resulting from damage or being deliberately carved its only vaguely reminiscent of a vulva. The figure also appears to be clothed which further counts against it being a sheela, doubly so given the proximity of the neckline to the cleft. The church is Early English in design, not Romanesque. However we can’t read too much into this as another Early English church at Etton holds a far more convincing exhibitionist figure. All in all while the figure is interesting I would have to say I doubt this is a sheela na gig.

Thanks go to Dr Bax and Frances Hopkins for supplying these photographs of the figure and the church.
John Harding

 

SheelaEastryButtress

The figure from below

 

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Eastry Church

 

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A worn human head possibly with a lop sided mouth. This motif can be seen on quite a few romanesque and later churches.

 

SheelaEastryLion

A worn carving possibly meant to be a lion (notice the worn mane like carving at the back of the figure)

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Diddlebury

An Exhibitionist?

An Exhibitionist?

If you visit the Church Stretton, Holdgate or Tugford figures you will likely come across mention in the church leaflets of another church at Diddlebury which has a Sheela Na Gig. As you can see from the photographs this claim is somewhat dubious. The most likely candidate figure is the one pictured on the left. However it is so damaged that it is hard to say what it originally was meant to represent. It appears to a torso with the remnants of two legs and what could be a jutting out neck. There is no evidence of any sexual organs carved between the legs.

There are a number of other carvings on the church mainly of animal heads and a weathered human head over a door. Interestingly the bear head with muzzle is very similar to the bear at Kilpeck. This might indicate that the original carving was done by sculptors of the Herefordshire school. According to professor Zarnecki that the font at nearby Holdgate is also of Herefordshire school origin.

There is small description of the town of Diddlebury here with a nice picture of the church.

For those of you who like odd coincidences… When I visited the church the second time I picked up a church guide which was written by Dr Sally P.J.Harvey. P.J Harvey of course wrote and sang the song Sheela Na Gig. It’s also worth remarking that Dr Harvey mentions the figures only as “human” and does not describe them as exhibitionist in any way.

 

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Llanon

The Llanon figure
The Llanon figure

This figure is reported in The Visual Culture of Wales and Archaelogia Cambrensis 2001 as being a sheela na gig. The figure originally comes from Capel Non (Non’s Chapel) in Llanon near Aberystwyth in Ceredigion. Many place names in Wales begin with Llan which does not really have a direct equivalent in English. Llan can mean religious enclosure, church, parish or even village. Probably the safest translation in this case is that of “Non’s Church”, St. Non being the mother of St. David the patron saint of Wales. When the chapel was demolished it was moved to a local pub then to Aberystwyth library and now resides in the Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth in the Bowen Gallery.

The carving was originally thought to be of St. Non holding the infant St David (Dewi sant). As you can see from the photograph the stone is very worn but there seems to be little suggestion of a baby figure. At first glance there is very little to see on the carving due to the weathering. The photo has had it’s shadows boosted to bring out what little details remain. In reality there is very little to see on the real carving. There appears to be a faint remnant of the facial features with two high set eyes, small nose and what could have been a large gaping mouth. Some caution must be applied here as these features may just be a side affect of the weathering and may not allude to the original features of the carving. The right arm of the figure hangs loosely by it’s side while the left appears to be gesturing to the lower stomach area or genitals. The bottom of the carving is very confused the left leg appears to be attached to the body whereas the right leg appears to be detached with the hand of the right arm resting on it. The genitals, if they are genitals appear to be hanging down between the legs, however the “genitals” may be the right leg and the other leg something else.

The figure does have some features which would indicate that it is possibly an exhibitionist figure and I can see why this figure has been newly classified as a sheela. However the figure has no tradition of being “rude” rather it was recorded as a figure of St Non holding the baby St David. This and the fact it is very weathered means we can’t be a 100% sure what it originally was meant to represent.

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Llanbadarn Fawr

The alleged Llanbadarn Fawr Sheela Na Gig
The alleged Llanbadarn Fawr Sheela Na Gig

The Figure

Location: ///absorbing.education.shutting

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N.B. This site should not be confused with the large Norman church at Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth. This figure lies in the church of St Padarn to the North of Llandrindod Wells near the village of Llanbadarn Fynydd in Mid Wales. The church can be found on the side of the A438 near the village of Llanbadarn Fynydd on the way to Newtown. The church is reasonably modern in appearance (Victorian) with the main doorway holding most of the Romanesque carving. The alleged sheela figure is high on the right inside wall of the porch. This figure is reported as being a sheela na gig in the booklet outlining the history of the church and is also cited as such in Romanesque Architecture And Sculpture in Wales by Malcolm Thurlby 1. Little explanation is given for this definition as the bottom half of the carving is missing (or never existed). While the carving is not exhibitionist it does bear some stylistic similarities to the nearby Llandrindod Wells Sheela Na Gig. The breasts are treated in a similar way being flattened cones and the figure has ribs inscribed on the chest in the same way as the Llandrindod figure.The breasts differ slightly from the Llandrindod figure as they seem to be somewhat concave. The face differs from the Llandrindod figure being round and having a much more jolly smile than the enigmatic and rather peaceful expression on the Llandrindod figure. The arms of the figure are held tightly into the body but the figure is truncated at the elbows so we cannot tell if the arms originally crossed the body like the Llandrindod figure. If the figure is truncated and was originally a sheela na gig then it would quite possibly be the biggest figure ever found. The existing sculpture is quite large and if we extrapolate the rest of the figure then it would between 3 and 4 ft high. This would however tie in with the nearby Llandrindod figure which is also large for a sheela na gig. The porch also contains a double headed corbel, a carved tympanum and other carving on the doorway
Llanbadarn Fawr and the Hereford School
In addition to the alleged sheela carving there is a wealth of other carving in the porch of the church. Most notable is the doorway which has a number of figures carved on it including tympanum the symbolism of which is confusing to say the least. Its central motif is a cats head out which grows a tree  or plant. This flanked either side by a lion to the right and a wolf or dog to the left. To the immediate left of the cats head lies a sun or sun wheel symbol. Malcom Thurlby in his book The Herefordshire School of Sculpture cites the carving on this doorway as being a poor copy of Herefordshire School work in the not too distant East. Other churches in Wales such as St Woolos in Newport and Brecon Cathedral also contain examples of Herefordshire School inspired work. If this influence holds true then it would seem to suggest that the Llandrindod Figure and the figures at Kilpeck and Rock are all connected and the inspiration for the motif may have come from the same source.

Gerald of Wales

The existence of the church in the 12th century is further confirmed in the writings of Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis). His duties as Archdeacons of Brecon included the inspection of churches. However some of the clergy between the Wye and Severn rivers resented this interfernce. This attisude is born out by the low level warfare that existed at the time between the Lords of Marches to the East and the Welsh of the West. In Geralds own words :

“Every door in the town was barred against him, and there being no other place for him he took up his abode in the church which he chanced to find open, and ordered his horses to be picketted in the churchyard. After these outrageous proceedings, he straightway sent two clerks with a message to the prince of that land, Cadawallon ap Madog, his kinsman, telling him of his coming and how he was surrounded and besieged in the church. On hearing this the prince at once sent a sufficiency of victuals to the Archdeacon, with the message that he would come to him the next morning and take sharp vengeance on his wrongs, as if they were his own. But on receipt of this news the siege was raised at once, and six or seven clerks, who after the Welsh fashion shared the church between them came one after the other and bowed themselves humbly at the Archdeacon’s feet, seeking pardon and receiving it, but only after they had given due satisfaction for their disobedience, or rather their insolence.”

It is fascinating to think that Gerald may have used the same doorway to enter the church which exists to this day.

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Typnanum at Llanbadarn Fawr. The figures either side of cat head/tree motif are a lion and lioness. (The trefoil tails looping under the bodies indicate that they are lions and the spoon like indentation on the neck of the right hand figure are meant to indicate a mane)

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Double head corbel in the porch. This seems to have been taken from the original Norman (Romanesque) building. Double head corbels such as these are fairly common on Romanesque churches.

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Capital possibly showing Adam and Eve. The odd hairstyle on the right hand figure is duplicated in another strange figure on a font at Hook Norton in England.

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