Hunky Punks

More on Hunky Punks

Neil Staten continues on from last month’s edition, where he explained that the statues on the top of the church tower were not ‘gargoyles’ but ‘grotesques’, colloquially known as ‘Hunky Punks.’

Why are they there?

They do not function as gargoyles, draining rainwater. Nor are they corbels, holding up other stonework. They break up the long lines of masonry on the tower corners and serve to interrupt the horizontal line of the string course at the base of the parapet, so it’s probably down to architectural aesthetics.

What was their real purpose?

Although showing good evidence of heraldic and religious designs, they seem to allow an element of the grotesque to creep in. Medieval life, although profoundly influenced by the church, was also still deeply permeated by superstition and folklore. They were really more for the dissipation of evil spirits and other ancient ‘denizens of local folklore belief’.

Why is there one at each corner and one in the middle of each side?

Perhaps they are guarding against the influences of evil spirits. There is one on each side of the tower on the cardinal point of the compass. Those on the corner were thought to stop evil spirits squeezing through the gap where east meets north and south, and west meets south and north. All-round protection!

The carvings, almost certainly carved by Somerset masons, are less ornate than others, because of the use of much ‘harder to carve’ Cornish granite. They belong to the late ‘perpendicular period’ of ecclesiastical architecture that lasted from the late 14th until the early 16th century - the time when Probus Church Tower was built.

The figures were most probably carved indoors during wintertime and hoisted into place on the tower when construction work was re-commenced in the summer months. If they were created in workshops, with perhaps less close supervision and less religious oversight, it’s easy to imagine the masons allowed an element of the grotesque to creep in.

So, next time you are passing the church, stop and take a moment to study the tower. See if you can spot the griffin on the north-west corner, that sadly has now lost its head, the great mastiff baring its fangs on the east-centre and the gaping mouthed lizards and ferocious lions.

They are still up there..

Still unique to our church.

Still unique to our village.

Be proud of them!

Treasure them!

All images: Richard Ludlow