I visited St Michael and All Angels with Colin on Monday. It was a lovely morning to spend in the Norfolk countryside and it was a very interesting church to explore. A couple of the highlights are in the photographs below. The first is medieval graffiti in the shape of daisy wheel circles inscribed on a pillar. These circles are meant to capture evil spirits. A tool similar to a compass was probably used to make the circles virtually perfect. Below the bottom circle there is a horse inscribed which isn’t easy to see - Andrew Eeles spotted the horse when he visited the church some years ago.
Here are pictures of the beautifully painted 15th century rood screen at St Michael and All Angels. There are twelve figures, six on each side, and they depict three saints and nine of the Orders of Angels.
The north range features (left to right in first photo): St Apollonia with her pincers and tooth, II: St Sitha with her household keys, and then four of the orders of angels: III: Powers, IV: Virtues, V: Dominations and VI: Seraphim. Partnering this last, the south range (second photo) begins with VII: Cherubim, and then continues VIII: Principalities, IX: Thrones, X: Archangels and XI: Angels, before finishing with XII: St Barbara holding her tower. The exquisite beauty of the angels' faces is accentuated by the fact that two of them, Dominations (V) and Seraphim (VI), have their faces unrestored, and remain as they were when fundamentalist members of the congregation here scratched them out in response to the Injunctions against Images of the 1540s. Memorable too are the monstrous creature at the feet of Powers (III), the urine flask held by Principalities (VIII) and the naked sinners cosying up to Angels (XI).
Here is a link if you would like to learn more about the church:
http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/bartonturf/bartonturf.htm
Stay Healthy!
Regards
Mike
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