Today marks a bit of an anniversary - a boundary - a turning
point. As of today I have 'officially' been studying medieval graffiti for six
years. Six long, cold years of crawling around churches staring at the walls.
Six long years of immersing myself in the history of our churches and people.
Six long years of wondering why I don't have a 'proper' job. And so, after over
half a decade it is time to take stock; time to add a little perspective, and
time to assess what I have really achieved.
Well I can certainly say it has been an eventful six years.
I've been part of a project or two that has made some amazing discoveries.
Found secrets that were thought long-forgotten etched into the walls. Chased
demons across the stonework, and traced medieval curses with my fingertips
across the plaster. I have come to intimately know centuries-long-dead master masons,
who left nothing in this world but the carved stones that lie beneath my hands,
and touched the last and only markings made by the damned souls of heresy. I
have found and recorded desperate messages of plague and despair, and messages
of love and hope. All there, on the walls, waiting in the dark for centuries.
And I have come across some amazing people, both the living
and the dead. The fantastic volunteers, friends and helpers who have, so to
speak, shared the journey. I've met some real looneys too - complete and utter
nutters - many of whom also fall quite happily into the 'friends and helpers'
category - the others who are hopelessly still out there searching for Templar
graffiti. I've also been very lucky. The projects have won a number of awards.
Big shiny national awards. I've no idea where they are now obviously, as I
'think' I gave them to the volunteers, but it was gratifying to see all their
hard work paid back, even in such a small way. And then there was 'The Book'. A
bit of a surprise all round - being asked to write it being one of the most
obvious - and then people actually paying good money to actually buy it. Oh,
and the media stuff. That was all quite good fun too - even the stuff in the
Daily Fail - as long as you never, ever, ever read the comments section
obviously. And there was cake... lots and lots of cake. So, all in all, it has
been quite a six years. An adventure in archaeology - and baking.
However, after six years it is time to question whether we
actually achieved anything that we set out to achieve? Whether any of the
questions concerning medieval graffiti and the people who made it, that we
posed six years ago, have actually been answered. Are we really any closer to
understanding just what is really happening on the walls? Or are we, like all
those who came before us, just staring at the walls in the dark? Are we just
fumbling amongst the hard stones looking for meaning? Well, we have certainly
answered some questions, and made some quite startling observations.
In the first place, and probably most significantly, we now
understand just how common medieval graffiti actually is. We knew when we began
that there were a lot of examples out there, but the sheer quantity of
inscriptions has been one of the most staggering aspects of the projects. In
Norfolk alone we have recorded over 30,000 individual inscriptions, with an
additional 5000+ in Norwich cathedral. Suffolk has produced almost as many, and
images arrive daily of medieval graffiti from all over the country. New surveys
are springing up as well, with almost half of southern England now involved,
and organisations such as Historic England are now attempting to issue
guidelines on how a graffiti survey should be undertaken. We are, in effect,
looking at a whole new area of research.
But have we answered any of the questions that we set out to
examine?
Possibly, and possibly not. What I am clear on is that we
have certainly generated one hell of a lot MORE questions. Things that would
never have occurred to me, or probably anyone else for that matter, when we
first began staring at the stones all those years ago. New questions that have
pushed themselves forward as the masses of data piles up, and they are
questions that, to be honest, we are going to need a lot more data to answer.
In many cases we have answered the who, when and how? We have traced individuals
across the stonework and vellum, charted their births, marriages and ultimate
demise. We have recorded their marks on the walls, and tried to find their
marks on this world. We have traced long dead rectors who recorded their own
charitable works. We have recorded the militia musters that no other record
shows as ever having happened. We have traced the tragedy of seemingly insignificant
deaths; so significant to those around them, those who loved them, that they
etched the very stones themselves. These questions we have answered. And yet, the
bigger questions remain. The questions that bother me. The questions I ask in
my head in the dark hours of the night. The question of Why?
This then is perhaps our task for the next six years. To go
beyond the treasure hunting and gathering of individual marks on the wall. To
understand not just the who, when and how - but also add a little flesh to
those cold stone bones... there will undoubtedly be demons along the way...