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Introduction
Introduction
The lead covering of St Mary’s church tower was laid at about the time of the earliest date recorded on the graffiti – “S. F. WHITE – 1876”. In recent years it has deteriorated to the extent that the church architect has recommended it be re-laid.
The lead used in the 19th century is somewhat thinner than modern standards recommend, the lead sheets meet with insufficient overlap, and they have slipped slightly down the roof, resulting in even more skimpy overlaps at the ridge.
At present, the lead covering remains more or less waterproof, but it is only a matter of time before water starts to get past the lead, causing damage to the oak planks and beams of the roof structure.
When a new lead covering is installed, the old lead will go for recycling, and remanufactured for future leadwork. An extensive collection of graffiti has accumulated on the lead sheets over the course of 150 years, and this will be lost.
This document has been produced in order to record the graffiti for posterity. In most cases the graffiti consists of simply the initials of a name, but sometimes there is also a date. Occasionally a full name has been engraved into the lead, but this is unusual. Notwithstanding the cryptic nature of the graffiti, they are nevertheless interesting historical artifacts, and they deserve to be preserved.
St Mary's Church North Leigh - a general view showing the tower with distinctive late-Saxon era bell chamber window openings with recessed pillar and double arch.
St Mary's Church North Leigh - a general view showing the tower with distinctive late-Saxon era bell chamber window openings with recessed pillar and double arch.
The tower is the oldest part of the church and was built nearly 1000 years ago.
The tower is the oldest part of the church and was built nearly 1000 years ago.
So many summers and winters have passed since the tower was built...
So many summers and winters have passed since the tower was built...
In cold weather, the lead sheets contract...
In cold weather, the lead sheets contract...
In hot sun, the lead sheets expand.
In hot sun, the lead sheets expand.
The tower roof ridge runs north-south, and gulleys carry away the rainwater on the east and west sides
The tower roof ridge runs north-south, and gulleys carry away the rainwater on the east and west sides
A zinc covered hatch in the north west corner gives access to the roof via a steep ladder from the bell chamber
A zinc covered hatch in the north west corner gives access to the roof via a steep ladder from the bell chamber
Looking down on adjacent properties you appreciate the height of the roof and feel insecure against the low parapets
Looking down on adjacent properties you appreciate the height of the roof and feel insecure against the low parapets
The Types of Graffiti
The Types of Graffiti
There are a number of types and characteristics of the graffiti.
Pictorial
Pictorial
There are three boot prints outlined in different parts of the roof. These have been produced by running a knurled wheel stylus around the perimeter of the foot – the size of the boot print suggesting the height of the person.
Although some of the graffiti seem to commemorate a romance by the conjunction of two sets of initials, there are just two examples of the initials being inside of a heart. And these appear side by side.
There is a long tradition of depictions of genitalia appearing as graffiti, and our tower roof is no exception, there being just one example, represented quite skilfully using a knurled wheel stylus.
Initials and age or date
Initials and age or date
The names and initials and dates of the inscriptions vary considerably in style and content
Sometimes there is an inscription of just two-letter initials, others have three initials, some have a full name.
Sometimes the initials are accompanied by a date, usually just the year, but sometimes a full date.
In one case, the inscription contains a full name and the home town (Kidlington).
One or two inscriptions include the inscriber’s age, in one case amusingly giving the age as 13 and 11/12 years old.
Orientation
Orientation
The inscriptions are almost always written horizontally, and parallel to the ridge. They tend to be clustered closer to the top of each panel, this being a more comfortable spot to kneel or lie on the lead to make the inscription
Cutting tools used
Cutting tools used
Lead is a soft material, and can be marked quite easily. Most of the inscriptions have been cut using a knife, but quite a few were produced using a stylus with a knurled wheel on top of it. This gives a much stronger impression in the lead than can be produced with a knife.
There does not seem to be any particular date specific tendency for one tool to be used in a particular era
Calligraphy
Calligraphy
The style of lettering is somewhat constrained by the cutting tool used.
Where a knurled wheel stylus was used, it sometimes seemed difficult to produce smaller curved letters of numbers. Similarly with a knife cutter.
Most of the inscriptions use capital letters, generally produced with a single stroke, but sometimes with two parallel strokes to give the impression of a solid letter.
Many of the inscriptions incorporate letters having “uncial” ends, as with Roman lettering.
Distribution of the dates
Distribution of the dates
The inscriptions, where dated, are scattered across most of the decades of the 150 years since the lead was laid.
There is a clustering of dates from World War 2, when it seems that the church tower was used as a civil defence aircraft spotting post. In fact, one of the inscriptions commemorate this “RAF – August 1944”.
There are two inscriptions dated 1954, but these are the most recent. Perhaps the practise of leaving graffiti fell out of fashion. Or perhaps the access to the tower was locked from that time.
Legibility
Legibility
The inscriptions recorded are those which were legible on a day of bright sunshine, when the sun’s reflection brought out the marks clearly. However, there were many fainter scratchings and markings that were not legible. These would have been names lightly scratched in the lead with the point of a knife. The bright under-metal that was revealed would have made the lettering clear for a short time, then it would have faded to illegibility after some weeks of months. Only if deep mechanical cuts were made in the lead would any degree of permanence be possible.
The entire roof is actually like a spider’s web of faint scratches and marks, hovering tantalisingly below the limit of vision, opaque and no longer decipherable.
The Construction of the Tower Roof
The Construction of the Tower Roof
The tower roof has a shallow ridge running north to south, with a lead lined gutter running along its east and west sides and draining through lead pipes at four corners.
There is a zinc covered wooden hatch that gives access to the roof at its north west corner, and the clay pipe of a disused fireplace chimney flue on the north side of the roof.
The roof is surrounded by a stone castellated parapet. The lead covering has seven bays on both the east and the west faces. Each bay is divided from the next by a wooden beam, covered by a “roll” of lead.
I have designated these bays A-G on the west side, and H-N on the east side.
The graffiti have been indexed using the format:
A-nn-xyx
Where A is the bay identification letter A to N
nn is a serial number for the graffiti within the bay, 01 to 99, ordered from the top of the bay towards the bottom of it.
xyz is an identifying string of letters – usually the initials of the graffiti.
Each graffito has an accompanying photo, named with the above index name.
The following diagram illustrates the layout of the lead panels on the tower roof, with West at the top.
The Graffiti
The Graffiti
Each of the 59 recorded graffiti is listed below in a standardised format - Its Index , then the text of the graffito, then some comments on its style and content, and finally the date of the graffito, where known. In some cases, the identity of the author can be deduced from their given age and date, if that person had been baptised at the church.
b-01-fv
FV
Deep knife cuts, very clear lettering
Date: Unknown
b-02-sfwhite
S. F. WHITE 1876
Deep knife cuts, very clear lettering – similar in style to FV nearby.
The earliest date, although this date appears a number of times.
Date: 1876
b-03-lw
LW AGE 16 1947
Similar to c-02-ew & d-07-iw1. LW could be Leslie, the twin brother of Edwin Wearing.
Date: 1947
b-04-gh
G (V?)H
Possible fragments of two inscriptions?
Date: Unknown
c-01-wh
WH
Nicely cut Roman letters
Date: Unknown
c-02-ew
EW 1945 .. EW 1947
Two inscriptions, enclosed in heart shapes. One is inscribed EW 1945, the other (less clear) EW 1947. The similarity of the dates to those for Ivor Wickson (d-07-iw1) suggest they were contemporary, and Edwin Wearing b. 1931 would be a possible candidate. Unusually, they are oriented "upside down", but being close to the ridge, this is a convenient orientation. Conventionally, the heart is used to signify romantic love, but in this case the object of EW's affection is left unstated.
Date: 1945 & 1947
c-03-p
Outline of a penis
A clear depiction of a non-erect circumcised penis and scrotum, viewed from the side. This is the only example of this type on the roof.
Date: Unknown
c-04-1876
1876 – E.. A..
Only part of the inscription is captured in the photo.
The inscription is cut using the same type of knurled wheel stylus as is the penis, which sits just above it.
The date is the same early date as b-02-sfwhite.
Date: 1876
c-05-hbe
H...BE + R(Y)
T BROWN
Possibly three separate fragments of inscriptions
Date: Unknown
c-06-cxxx
C*nt
The Anglo-Saxon indecency, inscribed in large letters of a flowing script. Knurled wheel stylus.
Date: Unknown
d-01-a
A
Various faint fragmentary lettering in this area, but nothing coherent
Date: Unknown
d-02-hb1876
H.B. April 27th? 1876?
The HB and April are clear, the rest is very faint
Date: 1876
d-03-hb1944
H.B. 1944 AGE 13
The writer has not properly mastered how to inscribe letters using the knurled wheel stylus.
Date: 1944
d-04-nbennett
N. BENNETT (AB) 1876?
The AB is a separate inscription. The “6” in 1876 is rather truncated, but most probably a 6.
Date: 1876
d-05-gb
G B
Knife-cut letters, large and well-shaped.
Date: Unknown
d-06-iw1
Friday, August 11th 1945 IW age 13 11/12 yrs
Small well-formed letters inscribed using a knurled wheel stylus. The precision of the day, date and age is amusing. Unfortunately, he was wrong about the date – the 11th was a Saturday. The war ended on the 15th following the atomic bombs of the 6th and 9th August.
Date: 10-Aug-1945
d-07-iw2
IW Age 15 1947
Clearly the same person as the adjacent graffito – who I suspect was Ivor Wickson, the son of the church sexton at this time. Ivor was baptised in North Leigh church on 1st November 1931 and born 17 Sep 1931. He lived his entire life in North Leigh, and died there in 2021.
Date: 1947
e-01-acorne
A CORNEY
The A is an outlined capital, but the rest of the letters are plain knife cut capitals. The A resembles d-01-a.
Date: Unknown
e-02-ac
A. C. 1929
Knurled wheel stylus. Could this be A Corney again?
Date: 1929
e-03-pm
P M
The letters are scratched or scored rather than the usual knife cut technique
Date: Unknown
e-04-msmall
M. Small
The letters “mall” are nicely cut in lower case, with an accomplished style
Date: Unknown
e-05-rpull
R PULL
Only the first letter of the inscription appears in the photo. It is unusual in being positioned upside down. See also l-07-rp (Richard Pullen was baptised in the church in 1855)
Date: Unknown
f-01-iwef
I W E F
Nicely cut Roman letters, perhaps being the initials of two people.
Date: Unknown
g-01-lw
L W I W G W
While LW and GW are single knife cuts capitals, IW is knife cut in outline capitals. Could this be Leslie and Gordon Wearing and Ivor Wickson again?
Date: Unknown
g-02-raf
RAF August 1941
Perhaps a record of the tower having been used by the Home Guard for aircraft spotting during WW2.
Date: 1941
h-01-boot
Quite a large outline of a boot, scribed with a knurled wheel stylus.
Date: Unknown
i-01-white
F . WHITE
In the same style as the adjacent inscription to H. Millin, so most likely the same date.
Date: 1918?
i-02-millin
H. MILLIN FEB 4 19(18)
The “18” is faint and in a scratched rather than knurled wheel style. This is possibly Henry Millin, b. 1874, living at Osney Hill in 1921.
Date: 1918?
i-03-jy
J Y 1879
Clear knurled wheel letters, but a slightly odd formation suggests someone only partially literate.
Date: 1879
i-04-rsmith
R SMITH
The R & S are in large outline caps, while the MITH are small caps. This is superimposed on other fainter graffiti, one is something like BUIIDE, the other 1954. There is also a faint UN and a ST.
Date: 1954
i-05-boot
Another boot print Various faint miscellaneous graffiti lie under the boot print.
Date: Unknown
j-01-mitch
MITCH
Quite nicely cut capitals, but there may be more than one inscription - perhaps M I. .T. C H
Date: Unknown
j-02-pcollins
P. Collins
The name is in mixed capital and lower case letters and scribed with a knurled wheel stylus.
Date: Unknown
j-03-fmgask
F. M. GASK 1883
Nicely cut outlined capital letters. Frank M Gask was born in 1869 into a Lincolnshire farming family. His father having died, his mother moved to relatives in the North Leigh area and eventually lived at Churchmead, next door to the Vicarage. The photo does not include the entire inscription.
Date: 1883
j-04-wef
WEF
Outlined capitals, in a similar style to the Gask graffito above.
Date: Unknown
j-05-walter
WALTER HARRIS 1906
Deeply cut capitals using a knurled wheel stylus. The “9” is written back to front. The letters are aligned with faint horizontal guidelines.
Walter Harris was baptised at St Mary’s in 1869. His daughter was baptised in 1906, when he was described as the Eynsham Hall Gas Man.
Date: 1906
j-06-gb
G.B.
Small capital letters, just above MB
Date: 1886 (probably)
j-07-mb
M.B. 1886
Small capital letters, just below GB
Date: 1886
j-08-glw
G L W 16 1947
Aged 16 in 1947 – Gordon Wearing – see other inscriptions in 1947 by the Wearings.
Date: 1947
k-01-fll
F L L
Large knife cut capitals with uncial endings
Date: 1876
k-02-terry
TERRY
Large and rather faint knife cut capitals.
Date: Unknown
k-03-jan
Jan 1876
Looks like it could be the date of the FLL inscription above it.
Date: 1876
k-04-hickman
J HICKMAN 1936
Large untidy knife cut capitals
Date: 1936
k-05-hicks
Hicks R. G. Feb 1929
Neat knife cut letters with a rectangular box around the inscription. There are several Hicks in North Leigh in the 20th century censuses, but none with initials R.G.
Date: 1929
k-06-gb
G B 1936
Large, crude knife cut capitals
Date: 1936
k-07-unsworth
S UNSWORTH 2/4/32
Rather scrappy knife cut letters, with the NSWORTH being in “small caps”
Date: 1932
l-01-jy
JY 1886
Same style as i-03-jy (1879)
Date: 1886
l-02-jbd
C. LANGFORD
J. B. D. 1877
Large well cut capitals.
There is also a smaller, fainter inscription C LANGFORD just above JBD. This photo truncates the date, which appears in full on the previoius photo.
Date: 1877
l-03-gf
G F 1929
Rather crude, large capitals. The inscription “STEPHEN” is faintly visible alongside of it, but running vertically . This area is especially crowded with faint illegible inscriptions.
Date: 1929
l-04-ref
R E F
Very similar in style to JBD (i-02-jbd). Probably done at the same time.
Date: 1877
l-05-jgr
J G B
Another inscription similar in style to JBD.
Date: Unknown, possibly 1877.
l-06-jh
J. H. 1886
Deep cut knurled wheel stylus. The date “1886” looks a bit like “1866” but most likely is the former.
Date: 1886
l-07-rp
RP (ULL…)
The first two letters are knife cut in outline, but the rest tend to fade away. There was a Richard Pullen born in 1855 in North Leigh, but by 1881 he was living in Marcham
Date: Unknown
m-01-gfh
G. F. H. 1882
Outline, knife cut capitals. The 1882 is done in single width knife strokes.
Date: 1882
m-02-ew
E W 44
Knurled wheel cut capitals.
See c-02-ew (Edwin Wearing).
Date: 1944
m-03-rs
R S
Uniquely, this inscription has been highlighted by a square of grey paint.
Date: Unknown
m-04-bgiles
B GILES 1954. KIDLINGTON
A very neat and accomplished inscription, unusual in having the author's home identified. A Ralph B. Giles, b.1933, is listed on recent elecrtoral rolls for Kidlington.
Date: 1954
m-05-hab
H A B
Deep knife cut capitals
Date: Unknown
n-01-boot
Another large boot outline, this one patterned with tread marks Knurled wheel stylus.
Date: Unknown
And to end this document - the panorama from the top of the tower.
And to end this document - the panorama from the top of the tower.
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