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Sheela Na Gigs

This is going to be yet another phenomenon that, frustratingly, was the result of several and varying motivations and not simply one 'comprehensible' motivation, isn't it?
 
myf13 said:
We went back to Bray today, and managed to get into the church this time. Eventually found it by the west door (it took us a while, as it was dark in the church and we didn't know which side was west :oops: ). It's in a poor state so it's not much to look at, and my photos were rubbish. There are decent pictures on this site I've found, along with info on loads more.
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I'm adding a link that takes people to the website's Home. The link in the above post is 404.
https://sheelanagig.org/
 
Yithian said:
From Reg Boulton's The Sculptures of Kilpeck.

PM me for the whole text (copyright).
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and now I've gone and bought it! This place (and it's people I'm-looking-at-you-@Yithian ) are positively ruinous, rouinous I tell you to one's book budget!

Fortunately one recognises that most of one's elective spending is on these things and sets the budget so that the pleasure of going beyond it can be enjoyed many times :rollingw:
 
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I'm curious as to what this... thing... is doing in Sheringham Church, Norfolk.

Gs16wLbW8AAkl6P.jpeg
 
Yithian said:
I'm curious as to what this... thing... is doing in Sheringham Church, Norfolk.

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lt’s the Lionstorkephant of the Misericord, as mentioned in Ephemera 13:12

“And the Lord said unto Jeff the Woodcarver: Sing my praises, for l have devised a beast which will fit those awkward panels; Lo, even the twiddly bits whose shapes are unnamed by those with no girlfriends.”

maximus otter
 
Yithian said:
I'm curious as to what this... thing... is doing in Sheringham Church, Norfolk.

View attachment 90896
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I sometimes wonder if they start out carving something (say, a lion in this case) and the chisel slipped a bit when he started on the mane so he decided it look a bit like feathers and - oh well, might as well go with it rather than spend ages trying to put it right...
 
myf13 said:
There's supposed to be one at Bray, not too far from here. I'm dragging my parents off out tomorrow so I can go and try to find it. If I'm successful, I'll post any pictures I take.

Anyway, here's the list of the English ones (taken from the map mentioned above). Some of them seem to be where they were discovered, but I'm not sure they're still there.
Cumbria - Pennington: found in the old church, now in Kendall Museum
Egremont
Cross Canonby: now missing
Durham - Crofton on Tees: church
Yorkshire - Hellifield: in a private garden
Bridlington: church
Copgrove: originally in old church of St Michael & All Angels
Bilton: 2 in church dedicated to St Helen
Austerfield: St Helen's Church
Lincolnshire - Torksey: St Peters Church
Derbyshire - Haddon Hall: stables on Elizabethan estate
Shropshire - Tugford: St Catherine's Church
Holgate: church of the Holy Trinity
Church Stretton: St Lawrences Church
Herefordshire - Kilpeck: church
Huntingdonshire - St Ives: near site of priory
Essex - Easthorpe: originally in church, now in Colchester & Essex Museum
Cambridgeshire - Whittlesford: church of St Mary and St Michael
Hertfordshire - Royston: Royston Cave
Buckinghamshire - Buckland: Parish Church of All Saints
Oxfordshire - Oxford: St Michael's church
Berkshire - Bray: church of St Michael
Sussex - Buncton: church
Hampshire - Binstead: Holy Cross Parish Church
Romsey: Romsey Abbey
Gloucestershire - Ampney Saint Peter: church
Wiltshire - Oaksey: church
Avon - Bristol: church of St Mary Redcliffe
Somerset - Fiddington: St Martin's Church
Wells: cathedral
Dorset - Studland
Devon - South Tawton: church at Okehampton

These are the Scottish ones:
Taynuilt: thought to be from Killespickerill, now at Mukairn Parish Church
Iona: sanctuary
Kilvickowen: old church
Isle of Harris/Rodil: St Clements Church
Kirkwall: cathedral
Glasgow: cathedral

And the Welsh ones:
Powys/Radnorshire - Llandridnod Wells: church
Anglesey - Penmon: 2 or 3 in church next to priory
Margam

I can post the list of Irish ones over the weekend (there's lots more of them!)

EDIT- I went off to Bray this afternoon, but there was an orchestra practising and we weren't allowed in the church :( We're going to go back soon and try again.
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Thanks for posting (sorry, bit late to the party!)
 
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