Gargoyle Thumbnails
Gargoyle Thumbnails
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TO VIEW: Gargoyle sites are listed by town or village, then building name, then area. Scroll down or click one of the village / building names to go straight to it, then click on the thumbnail picture or name of the view to see a photograph of it (usually 10-50Kb each, the churches are 70k-120k).
TO SAVE A PICTURE ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER: right click on photo, choose "Save Picture As" or "Save Image As", use the file name shown or change to your own choice (this works in MSWindows, not sure about Macs).
If you know of any gargoyles not mentioned or have any corrections, or recommendations or comments about gargoyles or the web page, please drop me a line at gargoyles@fluffyrabbit.com
List of gargoyle sites, photos and futures
As this list grows, you might want to search for particular villages or saints; for most browsers press control-F then type in the name.
Gargoyle Photos available now:Part 1 - Beginnings : Barcelona, Woburn, Baddesley Clinton.
It might seem strange to start with Barcelona which is known for so many things apart from gargoyles, and Woburn Church when there are hundreds of places better known for their carvings, but it's sentimental. These are the two places that got me interested in gargoyles. In both cases it was a case of walking innocently by, glancing up and suddenly "ohmigod will you look at that!". So, in no particular order from then on, here we go:
Part 2 - France:
Part 3 - UK Special - Ely : Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, England.
Major religious centre in medieval times, has billions of (well ok, 1000?) old and new gargoyles. This was a first trip, so it's a very detailed in some areas but skimpy in others. Even so, there are 3.6MB of images all told. I'll go back sometime and fill in the gaps.
Part 4 - USA, well only Boston so far:
Part 5 - London:
Part 6 - Central England:
For more available now, especially medieval, see the Norfolk Churches Gargoyles page, this has a list of churches in Norfolk visited so far and whether they have gargoyles or not, what kind, and pictures when I have time to take and scan them.
Links and books:I forget the name of the building but it's that big blocky thing just off the main promenading street where everyone but everyone struts their stuff. Spot the pigeons.
Photos Feb 1999 (all 200mm lens)
...and these are not exactly gargoyles but they're stuck on roofs high up, and grotesque, so they almost count. By Gaudi, on the Gaudi House (which you can visit but pictures only allowed outside).
Photos Feb 1999 (28-200mm lens)
...these, again by Gaudi, are on the cathedral Sagrada Familia (I think I've spelled it right).
Photos Feb 1999 (28-200mm lens)
... these are in the Gaudi Garden. Obviously modern and stylised, but attractive and unlike some of the other modern European ones some do seem to function as plumbing. These are in the Gaudi garden in Barcelona, a beautiful place to wander round and just chill out, well, usually warm up given the climate.
Photos Feb 1999 (28-200mm lens)
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These are on the church in Woburn village, not the more famous abbey which is nearby. They're not immediately obvious, which makes it all the more shocking when you spot them. They say that gargoyles were made as weird, hideous and frightening as possible to scare off evil spirits. Well, some of these are the weirdest, most frightening I've seen which must say something about the people who made them and who they expected to come visiting.
This is the tower which houses them. Click the picture for normal view...
The wierdest gargoyles peer down at you from the balcony, they don't look too bad in the daylight, do they?
except perhaps this one
Photos Dec 1998 (70mm lens)
(I'm afraid the quality of some of the images is not that great, but then they're a long way up and I only had a little camera with me.)
Now dim the lights, imagine it's midnight, then click here for scary and here for another scary.
Those leaning over the balcony have no obvious practical use (beyond scaring off demons), but a little way below the balcony are the reasonably conventional ones, doubling up as water-shedding downspouts.
Photos Dec 1998 (70mm lens)
Now you've seen them individually, here's an enlarged view of tower if you want to see how they're positioned click here for enlarged view (132k)
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On the church near the hall. A bit old and seemingly only ornate (no pipes), most of them have eroded too much to see what they once were, these are the recognisable ones. Dim light, so it was hard to see them clearly. Photos Oct 2000 (200mm lens)
Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire revisited. I liked it so much that I went back in brighter light with a better lens. I hadn't noticed on my brief look before in the growing twilight but there are more than I thought, namely 8 gargoyles on the tower with one on each corner and one on each side in the middle between them. Nor could you make out much detail from the old pics, this shows the advantage of a long lens and better light. This is what I now saw: Photos Apr 2002, 600mm, Kodak Royal 400.
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Jump back to the list of UK, Europe, USA pages including the stunning Ely Cathedral for loads and loads of old medieval and new ones. Or see the Norfolk Churches Gargoyles pages especially for medieval ones.
COMING SOONER OR LATER for UK+World (some need scanning in, some haven't been taken yet)
St Peter de Beauvoir, De Beauvoir Road, Hackney and Islington border, North London, UK. A few small gargoyles on two turrets hidden away at the back of the church and hard to see. NB the gate at the back leads to private property (whoops) not the church yard. Photos 25sep2002, 400ASA, 28-200mm
The Faith Tabernacle Church of God, Ritson Road off Graham Road, Dalston - Hackney, North London, UK. Built 1875, classic Victorian gargoyles, lots of small ones on two turrets over the entrance, 4 big ones on the main tower. Photos 25sep2002, 400ASA, 28-200mm + 600mm
St Marks, St Marks Rise near Cecilia Road, Dalston - Hackney, North London, UK. A rather smart red sign outside proclaims this to be the "Cathedral of the East End" and the largest parish church in London, seating around 2000 people. Classic Victorian gargoyles, lots (8?) of small ones ringing the top of the main tower, and 4 big ones lower on the main tower, 1 big one round the back of the church. This is a much pleasanter looking church than most of the vile gross and blocky Victorian red brick churches around Hackney, someone got the proportions about right so that it looks more like a proper church than a Lego brick. Photos 25sep2002, 400ASA, 28-200mm + 600mm
St Annes with Columba Church, Hemsworth Street, Hoxton - Hackney, North London, UK. A light sandy stone coloured church with 6 dragon like gargoyles on the east end, with a couple more on the south attached to drainpipes. No pics yet. no Photos
All Saints, Livermere Road, Haggerston - Hackney E8, North London, UK. Hidden away down backstreets another light coloured church, with a couple of gargoyles on the front (west) one crouching beast, one without a head, also and in better condition, a couple of angels on the front and a couple on the back. No pics yet. no Photos
St. ?, Clapham Common north side, South London, UK. At the Battersea Rise end of Clapham Common, a light sandy stone coloured church with dragon like gargoyles on the corners of the tower. No pics yet. no Photos
BT Building, Euston Road, Central London, UK. Not gargoyles at all, just inconspicuous faces over doorways, but they are so unusual I had to include them. They seem to be "green men" style grotesques but are faces of women. Is this a first? no Photos
Tibbets Corner on the A3 southbound out of London, UK. No more details than that at the moment no Photos
St. Mary The Virgin, Twyford, Hampshire. A surprising church, seems asymmetrical to me but maybe that's an illusion. Mind you the tower's off to one side so maybe that's it. Built on a slope near the water meadows the lower graves periodically flood (yeuk). Also I'd never expected to see gargoyles here in my old childhood stamping grounds, but it is Victorian (1878) which would explain it. I say Victorian but there's been a church here since possibly late 600's, a Saxon one replaced by Norman in 1100's, repaired 1400's, rebuilt 1800's. The old bell tower was found to be resting on 12 big Sarsen stones, i.e. pre-christian. Ooh, er. Good solid modern wood carving inside, a bit austere for my taste, but a brilliant Noah's Ark in a tempest on a panel at the back. Oh yes, and four gargoyles. Photos Feb 2002 (200mm lens)
St. Helen, Darley, Derbyshire. Four long gargoyles like mini-French-style ones. Off A6 just past Station Road when heading out of Matlock. no Photos
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RECOMMENDED, though I haven't seen them yet
York Minster, York, UK. Lots of interesting ones. no Photos
Litchfield Cathedral, Litchfield, UK. Modern in various forms and styles. no Photos
St. Wulframs, UK. Very old looking, some bizarre. no Photos
Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, France. Lots and lots and lots, possibly THE classic gargoyle site, but remember that most (all?) of the gargoyles were replaced from 1800's onwards and I think none are original. no Photos, but search the internet
Various mainly in France, Belgium and Germany. See "Holy Terrors" book in bibliography for a list. no Photos, see the book
St. ?, Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, UK. Several, including a few bats. Thanks to Melanie. no Photos
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