Medieval Selfies

Medieval selfies or graffiti that highlights lower classes in ancient times, have been discovered by a volunteer group inside churches.

16:40 22 September 2015

Thousands of images scratched into the stone of some of Britain’s oldest buildings are of medieval commoners were found by a group of volunteers.

 

The Norfolk Medieval Grafitti project discovered 28,000 inscriptions which have been hidden under limewash. 

 

Archaeologist Matt Champion, said: "They may just have been rough sketches of the people who made them, medieval selfies carved into the stones, or they may have had a deeper spiritual significance.”

 

The caricatures were drawings of people kneeling and praying while some are purely likenesses of faces.

 

Mr Champion added: "Faces and human figures are amongst some of the most common finds in medieval English church graffiti.”

 

"When you find yourself face to face with a representation of a real person, a long-dead parishioner or parish priest, the hairs do go up on the back of your neck."

 

The community group's website states: "If you enter one of the many hundreds of surviving medieval churches that can be found in the county of Norfolk just about everything you see will relate to the elite members of the medieval parish; the top 5% or so.

 

"The stained glass, alabaster tombs and monumental brasses tell us only about those who created them or caused them to be created. They tell a story of power and riches.

 

"The coloured glass of the medieval church window, and the dull brasses laid into marble upon the floor, do not carry images of peasants ploughing - but of the local gentry in all their finery.