[MR] History Blog: More "Witch Marks" in Ruined English Church

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the History Blog feature discusses a salvage archaeology project
underway in Buckinghamshire at the site of St. Mary the Virgin church in
Stoke Mandeville.

The church building dates to at least 1070 and was in use until the 19th
century. Left derelict after a new church was built in the village in 1866,
St. Mary the Virginia stood empty until partly demolished in 1966. Now the
ruins are in the path of the new HS2 railway project, and archaeologists
are trying to save whatever they can before the bulldozers arrive.

Ah, yes! The witch marks. Rather than something evil, these tend to be folk
magic protections against dark forces, or symbolic prayers for divine
intercession. More and more are being discovered and recorded every year in
old English churches. Two stones found at St. Mary the Virgin have a spoked
disk symbol, which are described as "witch marks". The stones have been
removed for further study: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/59891 .

Note that there is a brief Vimeo video clip at the end of this story which
shows the ruined church rising again from the ground. If the animation is
correct, this was a lovely little church building.

Another version of the St. Mary the Virgin story with more photographs is
on Ancient Origins:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/medieval-graffiti-0014430
.

More on English church graffiti can be found at the Norfolk Medieval
Graffiti Survey web pages: http://www.medieval-graffiti.co.uk .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆