Reflections: Pentagrams, hexafoils and burn marks – medieval protection from demons, spirits and witches on our local churches
Medieval Protection
Halloween, or All Hallows Eve falls on 31st October. It is believed that this day in the Christian calendar evolved from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a Gaelic word meaning the ‘end of summer’. This was the time when cattle were brought in from pasture and the tenancy of land was renewed or renegotiated.
The Celts believed that on All Hallows Eve the boundary between the living and the dead was at its thinnest, giving spirits the chance to return to cause trouble and damage crops. People lit bonfires and dressed in costume to scare away the spirits.
All Saints Day, created by Pope Boniface IV, was originally held on 13th May but was moved by Pope Gregory III to 1st November to become a Christian substitute for Samhain.
This was a time to remember and pray for the dead, including martyrs, saints and ‘faithfully departed Christians’. In more recent times, through films and books, Halloween has been linked to the supernatural and evil spirits. Trick-or-treating originated in the US and has become popular in Britain.
For our ancestors, protection against evil or malign forces was carried out all year round not just at Halloween. Evidence of this can be seen in the older buildings, inns and churches in our area.
Archaeologist Conrad Godwin, writing in 1995, said that “knowing the logic by which a past culture operated provides a basis for projections about what their members were likely to do in a given situation”. It is therefore of interest to historians to study and understand what ritual protections against malign spirits were used by people in Britain in the past.
In medieval times there was a real fear of witches and demons. They could be blamed for everything from sour milk, to a failed harvest or a natural disaster. Author Vikki Bramshaw in her book New Forest Folklore, Traditions and Charms acknowledges the work of Professor Ronald Hutton in this area of study and makes clear that “the witch was very much imagined as a malign supernatural spirit – quite separate from the cunning man or woman who worked with magic against the very spirits considered as witches”.
King James I had been personally involved in the North Berwick Witch Trials that lasted for two years from 1590 and resulted in the deaths of a number of people who, under torture, had confessed to being witches. He went on to write a paper, published in 1597 on ‘Daemonologie’.
It was believed witches could change shape into animal form to gain access to buildings or to confuse the unwary. The King wrote that once a witch was transformed into a small creature “they will come and pierce through whatsoever house or church, though all ordinary passages be closed, by whatsoever opening the air may enter in at”.
Doorways, windows and especially fireplaces and surrounds were the most likely places that the witches would enter into a building. While doors and windows could be closed, chimneys could not. It is near these areas that protective marks are most likely to be found in earlier buildings. Vikki Bramshaw points out that they are sometimes referred to as ‘witch-marks’, suggesting that they were created to act against witches or were created by witches. In fact, the marks were used to ward off all evil or bad luck.
Ritual protection marks
The protective marks, known as ‘apotropaic marks’, have come to prominence through the work of scholars such as Timothy Easton who is the acknowledged authority on apotropaic marks. The word derives from the Greek ‘apotropaios’ meaning ‘to turn away evil’.
Looking very much like graffiti, apotropaic marks can be overlooked especially when a building is seen for the first time. The marks often take the form of interlinked circles and curves, known as hexafoils or daisy wheels. Alternatively, they appear as a mesh or chequer board pattern, or as a pentagram, or horizontal lines. Burn marks and letters such as V or M or W were also used.
Hexafoils or daisy wheels
These circular marks were believed to be drawn by compasses and initially attributed to stonemasons. They range from simple circles to intricate and complex designs. Both Vikki Bramshaw and David Clarke of Sheffield university suggest the design was used for distracting confusing or trapping evil spirits. The endless lines and curves drawing in the evil eye with no chance to escape.
Matthew Champion in his book Medieval Graffiti discounts the stonemason theory as there are so many of these marks to be seen across the country, and they are also found in buildings such as dwelling houses and inns. The size of some of the hexafoils is wider than the span of a compass. Champion notes that when archaeologists excavated sites along the Thames in the 1970s and 1980s they came across a treasure trove of domestic waste from the mediaeval period. Shears and scissors were found in quantity. Shears came in a variety of size depending on the task they were used for, such as cutting straw, clipping sheep or more delicate ones used in needlecraft and for cutting fabric and wool. Scissors and shears are depicted in mediaeval art hanging from the belts of women. They are the perfect implement for creating daisy wheel designs.
Hexafoil designs are sometimes found near fonts. Some are carved onto the sides of the font. Champion suggests that there may have been a perceived need for ritual protection in an area where a vulnerable, unbaptised child was brought to. The holy water would remove any evil spirits in the infant and they would be trapped by the hexafoil.
Although not part of the baptism service, a small north-facing door, known as a devil’s door, would be left ajar to allow the spirits to escape. The north side of a church was considered to belong to the devil and to heathens. A bricked-up example of a devil’s door can be seen in Ellingham Church.
Examples of these circular daisy wheel designs can be seen in Fordingbridge Church, Christchurch Priory, and further afield in the Tudor Merchant’s House in Southampton, St Cross Hospital in Winchester, and St John’s House in Romsey.
Pentagrams
A pentagram, or pentangle, is a five-pointed star polygon. It is an ancient symbol which, according to Matthew Champion, dates back to 3000BC. David Clarke notes that it was known in ancient Greece and in Jewish texts. It has been used as a symbol to deflect demons, although in more recent times it has become associated with paganism, black magic and Wicca.
A Middle English poem, written in the late 14th century, tells the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight who challenged King Arthur and his court. Sir Gawain took up the challenge. His armour and equipment are described in the poem. On his shield is a pentangle etched in pure gold. The poem explains that the symbol of Solomon was “taken to this day as a token of fidelity” and was known in England as the “endless knot”. Matthew Champion explains that this overtly Christian symbol would have been seen as “a potent protection against demons”. Although not commonly found in churches it was used to ward off evil spirits rather than as an occult symbol. There is an example to be seen on the south side of St Mary’s Church in Fordingbridge and another in Christchurch Priory.
Marian marks
Brian Hoggard in his book Magical House Protection, states that these marks are believed to refer to the Virgin Mary. The marks are often seen in churches and elsewhere as a VV or a W and “stands for Virgo Virginum, or, Virgin of Virgins”. Seen upside down as a M, it is believed to represent Maria, a further reference to the Virgin Mary.
Matthew Champion points out that this graffiti has been used for centuries and that it must have later adapted into a different meaning, such as a good luck symbol. He argues that it is unlikely that a person in the 18th century carving the symbol in a house or inn would have intended it to convey the same message as a person carving it on a church pillar in the 15th century.
Examples of Marian Marks can be found at the Swan Inn at Lyndhurst, the Royal Oak at Fritham, All Saints Church at Minstead on the main door and at Milford Church.
Mesh marks
Mesh marks cut to look like a net are another form of apotropaic mark. Brian Hoggard suggests that these were carved to catch the devil or negative energies and that they are often found incorporating Marion marks. He also links these ‘nets’ to lines of slash marks which can be found on timbers and some stonework. He argues that as they are usually found near to points of access, they may have a protective purpose. They are often crudely cut. For this reason, Vikki Bramshaw discounts the possibility that they are carpenter’s marks. Some are a series of parallel lines going upwards and are believed to be a spirit ladder. Edward Roberts in his book Hampshire Houses 1250-1700 highlights a fine example to be seen on a window mullion at Waterditch Cottage, Poulner, Ringwood.
Burn marks
In several buildings there can be found burn marks in a tear or bulb shape. Often, they are on the lintel above an open fire. Some are found on timbers elsewhere in the house.
To the casual observer it appears that in the history of the building someone was careless with a candle. However, in the Kings House at Lyndhurst there is a row of 10 such burn marks. If these were created accidentally it would be a miracle the house had not burnt down.
Historians John Dean and Nick Hill, using evidence from candles recovered from the Mary Rose, recreated rushlights, tapers and candles made from dripping, lard, sheep fat and beeswax. They then tried to recreate the burn marks by leaving the candles next to pieces of oak. They found that it took skill and perseverance to create the burn mark and could only be done with a candle. The flame had to be deliberately held onto the wood for some time to achieve the desired effect.
Vikki Bramshaw suggests that these burn marks were created to ‘inoculate’ the house against a major fire or to make a ghost candle to shine a light onto the ethereal plane and prevent darkness from gathering in that spot. Examples of these marks can also be seen in the Tudor Merchants House in Southampton.
Carpenter’s marks, mason’s marks and mischief
Not all lines and symbols found in churches and other buildings can be attributed to apotropaic marks. Some are carpenter’s marks or mason’s marks. In Christchurch Priory there are some excellent examples of mason’s marks which were used to show what work was completed by a mason.
Some marks are mischief. In Winchester cathedral a name and date can clearly be seen scratched onto a pillar. In another part of the cathedral a memorial plaque can be seen to a person of the same name who had been a chorister in the cathedral for most of his life. The suggestion by a cathedral guide was that carving your name was a way of showing off and proving literacy.
The graffiti found in the churches, inns and buildings in our area gives a valuable insight into the beliefs held at the time.
If you know of the location of an apotropaic mark, do get in touch.
• Nick Saunders MA is a local historian and chairman of the Milton Heritage Society. He can be contacted via nick@miltonheritagesociety.co.uk
