Three excellent gargoyles at the Church of St Andrew, Yetminster, where I was photographing scratch dials and medieval graffiti. There is one gargoyle at each corner of the C15 tower (the fourth was in shadow). These ‘grotesques’ were decorative in its broadest sense, and (unlike the similar hunky punks) also functional. One practical use for a gargoyle – the most usual – was as a water spout. An additional purpose was to protect the church and its precincts by repelling evil. Broadly speaking, the message they gave malevolent spirits was both ‘thou shalt not pass’ (protective) and also ‘get thee hence’ (repellent).
Most gargoyles represent creatures. Some are recognisable (usually with added malice); and others are completely monstrous. Some have both animal and human attributes. There may be disagreeable activity taking place or threatened. Good examples are the two below. In each a small human is attached to a large vicious beast, and in grave peril. In the first, a man is uncomfortably slung below the fanged beast, assessing the very long drop to the ground. In the other, the beast is equally scary and the man, semi-attached, is equally terrified. What evil spirit would take a risk with hexing this awesome (in its original meaning) church?
There’s one additional feature that I noticed only when I saw the images onscreen. In the first, the little man’s penis can be seen, and is obeying the law of gravity. The second it is not so clear-cut (as it were), but the bulge in the groin area may suggest a small and better endowed man. The display of stone genitals on medieval church carvings was yet another way in which evil could be held at bay or sent packing. The sheela-na-gig is the distaff example of the principle.
ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY 
I would imagine that most of the medieval clergy were short-sighted and did not wear spectacles. I believe the medieval stone masons were free spirits and I have seen soe very strange and amusing carvings in France. Amelia
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The masons definitely had some fun with these, and maybe settled some scores in an enduring form. I’ve read that apprentices were encouraged to hone their carving skills on gargoyles / hunky punks, one must assume on an ‘anything goes’ basis to judge by some examples…
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Fascinating, I am learning a lot!
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Ditto, in fact, Philip
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A lot of what we are admiring in posts such as this is, in fact, graffiti. So much more entertaining and clever than the scrawled obscenities one sees everywhere today.
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The second image is pleasing; it was in shadow when I saw it!
The conjunction of the ferocious beast and imperilled man is extraordinary. It is sad that the thoughts of the stone carver who created it, and of his patron, are forever lost in the mists of time.
The books of Alex Woodcock are useful in trying to understand. in some small measure, the iconography displayed on medieval gargoyles and grotesques.
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Thanks for this. I like to think that the carvers found the work very enjoyable, given a free hand. There’s a theory that in some cases the patrons were featured, and not in a good way. AW’s Shire book is a terrific resource, isn’t it.
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I enjoy the Shire Book – good information well presented for someone (like me) for whom the gargoyles, squints and biers etc are optional extras to the main project!
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Apologies, took a while to reply. Yes, an enjoyable collection to ornament a most interesting church. The gargoyles etc are among the sideline features for GSS, but I add them if gargoyles (or biers, or squints etc) can be part of it. I use AW’s Shire book, which like most (?all) Shire books is very accessible, informative, and well illustrated.
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