MEDIEVAL GRAFFITI: THE LOST VOICES/ ENGLANDS CHURCHES (HB)

This fascinating book decodes the secret language of the churches of England through medieval carved markings and personal etchings on our church walls. Our churches are full of hidden messages from years gone by and for centuries these carved writings and artworks have lain largely unnoticed. Having launched a nationwide survey to gather the best examples, archaeologist Matthew Champion shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships, prayers for good fortune, satirical cartoons, charms, curses, windmills, word puzzles, architectural plans and heraldic designs. Here are strange medieval beasts, knights battling unseen dragons, ships sailing across lime-washed oceans and demons who stalk the walls. Latin prayers for the dead jostle with medieval curses, builders' accounts, slanderous comments concerning a long-dead archdeacon and strange and complex geometric designs, created to ward off the 'evil eye' and thwart the works of the devil sharing church pillars with the heraldic shields of England's medieval nobility.