The tympanum at Stottesdon church
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The tympanum at Stottesdon church by Jeremy Bolwell as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The tympanum at Stottesdon church
Image: © Jeremy Bolwell Taken: 12 May 2022
Of Saxon date, this was once the tympanum (arch and lintel) above the west door of the Saxon period church here, and now incorporated inside the Norman church tower. It is very significant and historic, being a rare survivor and around a thousand years old. It depicts, it is thought, a hunting scene depicting a deer, a dog, a lion and a cat. Capped off with a human face. There are other carvings the meaning of which I am not sure of. I was shown this by the kindly, knowledgeable and friendly Churchwarden, who by happenstance I met in the village, Clare, a retired Health Visitor. I would have missed it and had missed it on my earlier visit into the church before my walk. I am grateful, what a crying shame to have missed it!
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.442896
Longitude
-2.483532