Apotropaeic

[biffvernon]

Not being a great enthusiast for supernatural explanations, I find Carol's suggestions plausible. And not knowing much about rushlights I Google Imaged for 'rushlight', which was pretty instructive.

 

[Jon Maine]

Not being a great enthusiast for supernatural explanations, I find Carol's suggestions plausible. And not knowing much about rushlights I Google Imaged for 'rushlight', which was pretty instructive.

But in our instance over 2 door frames every candle burn is by a hinge, bolt or latch. We are talking of people who were awestruck by churches and cathedrals as skyscrapers. These people were often uneducated and definately scared of the unknown. They were supersticious, we are not talking supernatural.

Carol, I would love to see some pictures, can you manage to get some up?

 

[Carol]

Will have a go at photographing tonight when I get back from work. Have tried to photo the 'witch mark' before but it doesn't show up very well. I will have to be creative with lighting!

 

[biffvernon]

But in our instance over 2 door frames every candle burn is by a hinge, bolt or latch. We are talking of people who were awestruck by churches and cathedrals as skyscrapers. These people were often uneducated and definately scared of the unknown.

They didn't like bumping their heads on door lintels so liked to keep doorways well lit.

Devil's advocate?

 

[Jon Maine]

Devil's advocate?

Talk of the devil :twisted: and you have just scared then all into burning not just the door frames but maybe us too!!

Timothy Easton has undertaken extensive research as to positioning of these poker burns and scribed marking. From the way he is talking not only is it important how the markings are on a doorframe but also the position of the doorframe within the house and possibly even the direction of the compass which it faces. His research is unpublished currently but will be I think he said in a year or so.

I believe certainly with the Merchants House that the markings are of a mixed nature and strategically placed around the frame that they are highly unlikely to be accidental. Certainly the remnants of scribing on the kitchen fireplace seem unconnected with any decorative scheme too.

I have to try to get the pictures to Tim promptly as he is unavailable from the middle of next week for a week, It will be interesting to see his response.

 

[Carol]

Here is a picture or some of our burnmarks, I didn't realise how hard it is to get them to show on camera.

This is on first floor, but would have been at ceiling height in the 1400's. Roof was raised in 1480's so these could be contemporary with that. Others do correspond with doorways more closely.

 

[KayW]

Have tried to attach a picture showing the location of the burns - please excuse the poor pictures as had to take them on my mobile this morning having forgotten my camera.

The other pics are of weird circles that have strange vertical lines from the underside of the circles. One looks like the symbol for a man??There are about 10 circles over a square meter. The pics come from beams and studs around a door and are from the oldest part of the house. The house is now 3 bayed but originaly I have been told there was just one.

The cottage was the vicarage to a norman church so I presume there is some religious connotation going on. Found some old bible pages this morning shoved in a joint and lime plastered so the occupants had either run out of other materials or had given up on religion!

I will definately try and collate my findings as I go along. Let us know what your expert thinks of everyones pics.

 

[KayW]

And another one

 

[Jon Maine]

All very interesting, As certainly some of your marks Kay are evil aversion marks maybe the bible pages are also related? On the other hand they could well be plasterers sub base filling, as indeed I have witnessed plaster bag or newspaper being used for.

Carol, your burns are very similar to some of Kays. Not being an expert on this topic it could be easy to think that these apparently disorganised clustered burns were careless candle placement. However I am in two minds about this whilst it is certainly not uniform like my burn markings I am sure that the people living in these buildings had to respect flames as they were in wooden houses with probably thatched roofs. Maybe if we carry on and collate as much information as we can we can put it all forwards to Timothy Easton who then maybe can suggest the meanings of these markings. If you are in the Shepton Mallet area let me know and come and see my markings in the flesh.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

If you are in the Shepton Mallet area let me know and come and see my markings in the flesh.

Marking in the flesh? that's stigmata - whole different kettle of fish :wink:

 

[Cloudscape]

This is in a drawer of a 17th century desk.

 

[Jon Maine]

Here are some more markings from a local property dating from probably the 16th century

The L is on a cross passage door

These are on a door at the other end of the room