Gargoyle Bibliography & Links
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Bibliography
These references are thanks to a man called Bob Trubshaw, whose interesting on-line mini-book I poached them from (thank you, Bob). Find it here Gargoyles and Grotesque Carvings in Leicestershire and Rutland. This is only a very small selection, just the ones having gargoyle in the title. Look at his book for a full list.
- Janetta Rebold Benton, Holy Terrors - gargoyles on medieval buildings, Abbeyville Press, 1997
- John Blackwood, Oxford's gargoyles and grotesques, Charon press, 1986
- John Blackwood, Windsor Castle's gargoyles and grotesques, Charon press, 1988
- Lester Burbank Bridaham, Gargoyles, chimeres and the grotesque in French Gothic sculpture, Da Capa Press (New York), 1969
- Ronald Sheridan and Anne Ross, Grotesques and gargoyles: paganism in the medieval church, David and Charles, 1975
- R.N.Trubshaw, Good gargoyle guide: medieval church carvings in Leicestershire and Rutland, Heart of Albion Press, 1991
Here are more references I've come across in my travels:
- Bill Yenne, Gothic Gargoyles, 192 pages, 200 color illustrations from throughout Europe
- Mike Harding, A Little Book of Gargoyles
- Nurith Kenaan-Kedar, Marginal Sculpture in Medieval France "Describes and analyzes the often grotesque figures high on the corbels or tucked under the eaves of churches and civic buildings."
- Martial Rose & Julia Hedgecoe, Stories in Stone: the Medieval Roof Carvings of Norwich Cathedral, 74 pictures 70 in color.
- text by Stephen King and photographs by f-stop Fitzgerald, Nightmares in the Sky. Apparently it focuses primarily on gargoyles in New York City.
- Darlene Trew Crist, Robert Llewellyn (Photographer), American Gargoyles : Spirits in Stone, 144 pages 1 (Clarkson Potter ISBN: 0609606859)
Other books
For gargoyles in general I like the "Holy Terrors" book by Janetta Rebold Benton that I keep mentioning. It's 140 pages of interesting stuff including lots of photographs. It cost me £20 and I think I bought it in a good bookshop rather than having to resort to Amazon. I haven't come across many other books on gargoyles in shops, just a couple of small ones. So, here's a link to a list of gargoyle books for mail order at www.thecrypt.net with links to Amazon.
Web searches
The place I try for obscure information like mooning gargoyles is DejaNews (via Google groups, www.google.co.uk) or a very specific Google search. I had a go myself earlier today but have to admit that you need to do a lot of trawling to find anything much useful (there is a LOT of wittering, and a lot of irrelevant stuff relating to the Gargoyles cartoon, general new-Gothic stuff and so on). I tried "defecating gargoyle" with no luck. There are a fair few matches for "mooning gargoyle"... if you want to see a load of neo-Gothic bottoms. But really you have to hunt patiently and imaginatively.
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Index
Obscure books and papers
The following list came from one of these very specific web searches. These are mostly obscure papers and books but if you have access to an academic library you might be in luck.
---Quote---
For more illuminated interpretations of the architectural _obscaena_
look up:
o Lilian M.C. Randall's introduction to her massive survey
of 327 Gothic manuscripts, _Images in the Margins of Gothic
Manuscripts_ (Berkeley and LA, U of California Press, 1966):
didacticism and humorous diversion.
o Karl P. Wentersdorf's article "The Symbolic Significance
of _figurae scatologicae_ in Gothic Manuscripts" in _Word,
Picture, and Spectacle: Papers_, ed. Clifford Davidson
(Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute, 1984): 1-19.
o Anthony Weir and James Jerman's great little book: _Images
of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval Churches_ (London: BT
Batsford, 1986).
o Michael Camille's summation on the subject: _Image on the
Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art_ (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
UP, 1992).
The great forerunners of the serious study of architectural _obscaena_
(although their works are more precious anthologies than studies) are:
o Jules Ade'line, _Les sculptures grotesques et symboliques_
(Rouen: Auhe', 1878).
o Gustave-Jules Witkowski, _L'Art profane a l'e'glise_ 2 vols.
(Paris: Jean Schemit, 1908).
Fouad Haddad
Naqshbandi-Haqqani Foundation
---UnQuote---
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Links
These are links to other sites (mainly US and excluding gargoyle manufacturers) that I've tried, that actually have pictures of gargoyles. There may be more by now but these should get you started. Please email me if any don't work, or if you know of new good ones. Email me about gargoyles
Links with their status in ( ) at May 2002, dead ones are struck out:
Gargoyles
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These are special links, not actually gargoyles, but related and all recommended for one reason or another:
- The Green Man in East Anglia David Owner's site, a good place to start. This is a reciprocal link for mutual interest and in the genuine spirit of co-operation that made the internet great. He keeps an eye out for gargoyles, I keep an eye out for Green Men. As well as an interesting site, this is the man to thank for the pictures of Ickburgh parish church gargoyles.
- Mike Harding's Green Man site More green men
- Stone Angels Lovely and very comprehensive set of pictures of carved "angels", the antithesis of gargoyles
- Oil can gargoyle A singular curiosity, description of an oilcan with a gargoyle on it in a Hampshire museum but no picture
- The Buildings of Hampshire Glossary A glossary of building terms
These are also special but I can't even pretend there's a gargoyle connection, I just like them:
- A shameless plug for a very good Early Music player, a very silly looking Mr Jarratt-Knock who with his two chums will entertain you for ready money, in full costume and with proper instruments. Believe me it's quality and it's worth it, check out Diabolus In Musica for music samples and more info. He will squirm with embarrassment when he reads this but his cornet playing in Monteverdi's Vespers is wonderful. He's not bad on the didgerydoo either. Among his other talents, this poor soul when more contemporarily dressed, has also endured several gargoyle expeditions with me with barely a murmer and deserves credit.
- No link, but the link checker I use, called LinkSleuth, search for XENU.EXE on Google for a download site
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Also, these are the links I've found which mention villages and churches in the UK that have gargoyles:
- "http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/hopev/hopevtxt.htm/" Hope village, Peak District #1. Text mentions "fine gargoyles", picture of church with unusual (ok, weird) stone spire. (dead link)
- Hope village, Peak District #2. Says "festooned with gargoyles" and has a map of where Hope village is. Interesting web page, I found the Saxon cross shaft (which er, seems to mean tall carved stone monolith) fascinating for some reason.
- Ely Cathedral, Anglican Church Organisation
- Ely Cathedral, Anglican Diocese of Ely
- Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire UK. Picture of three headed gargoyle in Navenby.
- Norfolk Coast organisation, lots of general info, two dozen churches mentioned, a section on church terminology (which I've studiously avoided learning so far).
- Fincham Church of St. Martin, in Norfolk, England. Lots of pictures of the church with descriptions. Quote: "There is a fine gargoyle just below the apex of the parapet, and you will soon find that gargoyles are one of the many outstanding features of this fine church.". This is the same Fincham that stunned me and has a web page of mine all to itself.
- St John the Baptist Church, Pilton, Somerset and maybe others by now, link is to top level then search (server was down on link check)
- St Mary, Battisford, Suffolk
- The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, High Pavement in Nottingham (fixed)
- St Mary's, Hasfield, Gloucestershire A mention in a bell ringers guide to Gloucestershire
- York Minster A photographer's view of one of the gargoyles (fixed)
- St. Augustine's Church, Ramsgate More Pugin (link fixed)
- Rosslyn Chapel, Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland
- All Saints, Newton, Sylly, Suffolk
- St Mewan Church, St Mewan, Cornwall
- Old Basing Church Tour of Old Basing, Hampshire, exterior, gargoyles
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Sites for churches and buildings that either have gargoyles or have some special interest, but don't actually mention gargoyles:
- Temple Balsall, Warwickshire - a Knights Hospitaller church (almost certainly), interesting history, info on the Templars and Hospitallers. I met the guy setting up this website when I was there, he hopes to include a lot more including a virtual tour of the church including the many carved heads (and one gargoyle)
- St Margaret's, King's Lynn, Norfolk - history, church stuff, not much on structure
- North Runcton Church Gargoyle-less but curious, and they did ask for a link
- Knowle Parish Church, Warwickshire Nothing on the many gargoyles, but some history including how it miraculously survived the dissolution of the monasteries
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Mainly for my reference, sites that list churches:
UK:
Norfolk:
- Norfolk transcriptions archives. A number of the parishes have church photos posted.
- Norfolk Broads. (For non-UK visitors, referring to lakes not women). Mainly about the broads but some churches mentioned or shown.
- "http://www.add-zest.com/norfolk-churches/index.htm" Norfolk Churches (a few, 4 to a page, 6 pages) (dead link)
- The Norfolk Churches Evaluation Project Will produce a database
- "http://www.uk-church.net/england/norfolk/" Churches In Norfolk. Pitifully few when I looked months ago, attempting full list, you can help (dead link)
- Norfolk Churches Directory Full ref to books and which volumes
Commercial Links (just a few select ones):
last updated
15oct02
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