An incised medieval architectural design from Holy Trinity Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire

For the past few years Urban Archaeology has been working at Holy Trinity church in the Cotswold town of Minchinhampton first during a major re-ordering of the church, and then on follow up works in the church and churchyard. The church is a fascinating building, Norman in origin (although no standing fabric survives), it was largely rebuilt c1338, and then again in 1842; Chiz Harward is currently completing a major history of the church.

During the 2016 re-roredring the floor was taken up and many architectural fragments from the medieval church were discovered by the archaeologists from Urban Archaeology. Probably the most important of these were five fragments of limestone slab which were incised with the neatly-incised marks of an architectural design and an article on these has now been published.

The slabs, with the base 'ad triangulum' grid, and incised design

The life-size design would have been set out by the master mason to sketch out the geometry of new windows, and dates to the early-mid 14th century, the same date as the major rebuild of Holy Trinity in c1338, of which only the tower and transepts survived a further rebuilding in 1842.

After carefully preparing the surface of the stone slab, the mason set out a baseline, and then used compass, mason’s square and parallel rule to construct a grid based on the square root of two (1:1.41) (who said maths wasn’t useful). The detail of the design was then worked out using arcs drawn using compasses, with ogee curves and hints of cusps and quatrefoils. Although only fragments survive, the geometrical basis of medieval tracery means the design can be extrapolated to form a window of two trefoil-headed lights, with a quatrefoil above.

The reconstructed tracery

The slab is likely to be from a stage in the design process where the mason is still working out the geometry, perhaps for showing the patron; later versions would have been used as a base drawing for cutting leather or wooden patterns, which were used to carve the finished stone of the tracery. Although medieval architecture survives in so many churches, houses and other buildings, these architectural drawings are relatively rare and give not only a real insight into the geometric underpinnings and design processes used by medieval masons, but also the process of dialogue and negotiation between patron and mason as the designs developed.

The design does not exactly match window tracery in the north or south transept, but could be for windows in the chancel: early 19th century illustrations show Decorated window tracery matching the design.

 

The full article by Chiz Harward and James Wright is published in Volume 139 of the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society

A Tudor graffito of Edward 6 from Gloucester cathedral's Lady Chapel?

The graffiti, lit by raking light

Visitors to Gloucester cathedral often notice the graffiti and masons’ marks scratched on its walls, now new research by Urban Archaeology into one elaborate and finely executed drawing, tucked away in the Lady Chapel, suggests it is a portrait of the young King Edward 6. 

 

The drawing is just one of many graffiti in the northern first floor singing gallery of the Tudor Lady Chapel and is found on the gallery’s sloping stone counter at which the choristers would have stood to sing. The graffito is about a foot tall, neatly drawn with a sharp pointed implement, and shows a clean-shaven man in mid-sixteenth century clothes standing legs apart in a confident and striking pose. His bobbed hair is covered in a Tudor bonnet with a large feather, and he wears a striped or slashed jerkin cinched at his waist, a sword or dagger on his belt. To his left a hunting hound wears a studded collar, to his right an antlered deer. In the background is a church on a hill, with soaring spires -so not the Tudor-period cathedral. 

 

Interpretative drawing of the graffiti

The pose and dress is strikingly reminiscent of the 1547 portrait of the young Edward 6 by the workshop of ‘Master John’ currently in the National Portrait Gallery. Could this graffito be a copy of an official portrait of Edward 6 (who died in 1553), and if so, what date might it have been made? The numerous other graffiti appear to largely respect and fit around the design, and although notoriously hard to date there is no reason to suppose the graffito could not be 16th century.

 

Portrait of Edward 6 by the workshop of ‘Master John’ currently in the National Portrait Gallery

Chiz Harward, who carried out the research, commented ‘The subject of the young king out hunting is a common theme in Tudor imagery; if it is indeed a contemporary drawing then it is a powerful demonstration of the power of royal portraiture as a means of creating ‘brand’, as well as the artistry of a cathedral chorister.’

 

The research, by Chiz Harward of Urban Archaeology, is published in the latest Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society https://www.bgas.org.uk/.