A Selection of the St Guthlac's Church Graffiti
Click on images to enlarge
1. SAXON CROSS - this is not graffiti but the remains of a Saxon cross now built into the church wall c. 700-900. It is the earliest evidence of Christianity in Stathern.
2. JOHN - The name ‘JOHN’ is scratched on some of the sides of the font.
11. SHIELD low down on arch column.
12. RARE SCRATCH DIAL or Mass Dial on the cornerstone. It was used as a ‘vertical sundial’ to indicate Mass times, with a stick inserted in the central hole.
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3. 'W. LOWE 1905’ on removed organ timber.
4. 'CLAMP’ and BAILEY’ names, 1879, on old tower roof lead.
5. 'G P aged ' in shoe outline, on old tower roof lead.
6. WITCHES MARK on tower first floor door arch, also known as hexafoil or daisy wheel. Used as a protection mark to ward off evil spirits. Not accessible.
7. RARE CONSECRATION CROSSES C1200? Five crosses on two sides of a corner stone, possibly incised when the church was consecrated.
13. MEDIEVAL WRITING, upside-down and back-to-front, on an arch column. It could say “Alle ye wives….” or perhaps it is a witches' curse. This picture has inverted the writing.
14. NAVE CLERESTORY WINDOW on side frame stone ‘WsGs 1871’? Probably scratched by men cement mortaring stone joints (difficult to see).
15. TWO INTERLOCKING CIRCLES on vestry arch pillar. There are several pillar circles in the church, possibly serving as protection marks.
16. ‘JOHN GOODWIN 1707’, on vestry schoolroom windowsill. He was born in Stathern in 1694
17. ‘THOMAS SPITTLEHOUSE 1719’, on vestry schoolroom windowsill. His name is not found in the registers.
8. MAN’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS with bowler hat and bow tie, on old lead from tower roof. Also shoes and hand outlines, c. 1862.
18. LETTER ‘B’ high up on nave arch. These are found on two arches. Mason’s marks?
9. FACE scratched on the south porch arch. Indistinctly below are 8 holes in a circle with radiating lines.
10. ‘WB 1706’ is carved on both timber seat supports.
19. HOLES in a pattern, drilled on either side of the vertical stone porch door frame (ie 2 sets). Of unknown use; perhaps ‘3- men’s morris’ game.
20. TOP PART OF WORD (not identified) on nave arch column at the springing line. There is evidence of a pattern in the same place on an adjacent side of this column. A mystery!