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| photo Aldous Rees |
The arrows and
witches of Stambourne
blogpost Aldous Rees
Stambourne is a small village the far side of Great Yeldham
from the Hedinghams. The church is surrounded by fields and a few timber framed
houses, it is not a village I had visited before. I had gone to Great Yeldham
for a survey and visited afterwards. The graffiti here was more interesting
than Great Yeldham which appeared in Pritchard’s book (see blog Great Yeldham).
The church is dedicated to St Peter and St Thomas and it is grade 1 listed, as the
tower dates from the 11th century and the chancel 16th
century. The village name means stony brook and is famous for its witch trails.
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| photo Aldous Rees |
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| photo Aldous Rees |
The most exiting piece of graffiti in this church was three
arrows carved on the wall and possibly what could be a set gallows or gibbet.
The feathers on the end of the arrows can be seen. Does the arrows signify a
hunt along the stony brook of perhaps wild boar or could it be something to do
with witch trails? By one of the arrows there is another drawing, which looks a
bit like a set gallows or a gibbet with something hanging from it, could this
also be related to the witch trails?
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| photo Aldous Rees |
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| Photo Aldous Rees |
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| photo Aldous Rees |
 Stambourne Church also had a range of text, symbols and initials, with the porch having the largest concentration of these. The church like a number of other churches in the area has a very nicely painted rood screen (similar to Great Yeldham) which appears to date from the 15th or 16th century. |
| photo Aldous Rees |
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| photo Aldous Rees |
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| photo Aldous Rees |
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| photo Aldous Rees |
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