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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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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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.

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)

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.

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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