Gloucester Cathedral's 21st century Gargoyles

Somewhere I read an estimate that only 5% of the art of the Middle Ages survives to the present day. That's an utterly unprovable statistic, but it paints an apt picture. After hundreds of years, most things--especially decorative things--are going to wear away, unless they are highly valued, fortunately lost in some protective medium (like deep sea water or ph-neutral soil), or are made of something really durable. Gargoyles would seem to fall into that last category, but for a couple of unfortunate factors: acid rain, their tempting prominence (more on that in a moment), and their jutting weight that is not well-supported by their founding structure.

At Sainte Chapelle in Paris, they brought in their gargoyles who fell from grace, sparing them further damage from the elements (circa 14th century).

Gloucester Cathedral was built in several stages across centuries, but its original gargoyles were placed between the 13th and 14th centuries. Those which remain have been through a lot, and it shows.

In the one above, you can see the effort to conserve it. A (probably) lead cover has been placed over its body, and I think a spout has been placed on its neck to divert rain water from landing on it at that narrow point and eroding what's left of the head such that it would further dissolve and fall off.

These grotesques at Gloucester Cathedral (one above and two below) have been worn by time and rain, no doubt, but they have a few advantages which the previous examples did not have: 1) they are placed in recessed walls of the building, between chapels around the apse, which give them shelter from winds and driving rain; 2) they are beneath statuary pedestals, which shield them from some rain from above; 3) they are more compact, and are thereby less exposed than the larger, more oblong gargoyles.

They may be small, but they are quite intimidating.

But many of Gloucester's gargoyles have not been so lucky as these veterans. They melted to amorphous blobs which resemble stubs of candles. Others were destroyed because they were used for target practice by Royalist troops during the English Civil War.

The Chapter of the Cathedral launched a huge campaign to replace six of the lost gargoyles on the north ambulatory wall. This entailed local fundraising as well as donations from heritage conservation groups and private donors. Over half a million pounds were raised for the project. From 2013-2020, the cathedral's Master Mason, Paschal Mychalysin, guided a team of carvers, including Yeoman Mason Paul Synan, to create sculptures to represent the six districts of Gloucestershire.

This choice of subject matter fascinates me because it is a departure from traditional religious themes. It is not completely out of step with medieval practice, however. The exterior of a church is a liminal space between the sacred and the profane, the secular and the sacred. Medieval church art on the exterior had items that were certainly humorous, such as these peekers on the tympanum arch at Conques Abbey in France (circa 1125).

One would have to stretch to find a liturgical reference for these little guys.

The naughty acrobat from Cahors Cathedral (above, circa 1140), is another tradition from medieval church art, and this one is a rather tame one, because his genitals are not in evidence. Scholarly debates around their religious significance remain just that--debates--with most landing on the idea that these are warnings against lust or...something.

And then there is the naughtiest acrobat of them all, the sheela-na-gig in Kilpeck, at the Church of St. Mary and St. David, circa 1140, just 30 miles away from Gloucester Cathedral.

There are bunches of arguments for the reason she is on the facade of the church, and even the source book inside the church has the reference page for the sheela written over in different inks that this is the goddess, and others shouting that down. But there is a world of interpretation of her from "Here's where you came from!" to "Beware of Lust!" to "Behold the Great Goddess!" to "This is an Anus--Sodomy is a Sin!!!" to fill-in-the-blank, and nothing can reduce the fact that in the 12th century this was a fitting fixture for a medieval church.

So, as we look at the 21st century gargoyles of Gloucester, they may be quite in keeping with the idea that its community surrounds the church and is the church, and therefore has a place on the church.

This figure represents the Cotswolds. He is a sheep-shearer. I love the texture of the sheep's wool, how the sheep's hooves jut out one direction and his hand with the shears jut out another. I'm unsure about the coils atop the sheep's head--are they part of the shears? In any case, both sheep and shearer look deeply annoyed by this process.

This jockey represents Cheltenham, which apparently has a keen racing culture, and the jockey has had a big win recently. I love the inventive use of the spout to make it look as though he might be imbibing or vomiting champagne from his celebrations when it rains.

Until I got home from my trip and did some research, I was genuinely dismayed by this gargoyle, as I couldn't imagine the subject matter. Apparently, this sculpture represents Tewkesbury and its annual downhill cheese-rolling contest. The master-mason modeled the woman's face on "Germaine Greer having a row," and, I guess, to complete a gratuitous slam of the feminist (who visited Tewkesbury in 2006), has her mowing down a man between her legs (a modern sheela-na-gig?!).

This miner is a tribute to the coal miners of the Forest of Dean. He leans on his pickaxe and shouts down to his brethren in the mine, although his gaze is outward. This has a nice effect, given his placement on the roof of the cathedral.

This woman with her "Votes for Women" sash, her bell, and the city hall beside her represents Stroud. She appears to be shouting in a protest parade.

Finally, representing the city of Gloucester itself is this rugby player. He has a black eye, is missing a few teeth, has a tattoo, and clutches his ball like it's the holy grail. This gargoyle is placed so that it directly overlooks Kingsholm stadium. There's some local pride for you.

The rugby player's pose revealed to me that the master mason was keeping awareness of the original gargoyles' lines, creating a stylistic harmony. A very nice touch. Compare this remnant with the rugby player.

There's another gargoyle replacement project that took place in the seven years prior to the six Gloucestershire character sculptures. The masons and their team made thirteen animal and biblical-themed sculptures (gargoyles and grotesques) as part of the South Aisle Restoration program.

The idea was to illustrate Psalm 148, where animals and sea creatures praise God. The creatures would be playing instruments, shouting or singing. Mister Wolf here has bagpipes.

This ram is singing and dancing, I guess.

The ewe maybe singing, but is sitting out the dance.

The eagle looks a little too intent on hunting to be celebrating. (1997 is referring to remodeling of the archway, not the gargoyle.)

And his arch companion, the lion, is looking glum.

I don't remember which Old Testament king this is, and I'm not sure I want to.

I couldn't find any information on this last gargoyle. He doesn't fit either of the programs. However, he does fit with medieval themes. He's a great full-realization of a green-man or foliate creature, and he could be combined with another popular medieval motif: the seasons or the labors of the month; in this case, harvest. He's cutting wheat. The adorable field mice in the grasses look as though they hope he doesn't cut them with his sickle.

At Gloucester Cathedral, tradition and time both carry on and evolve. These gargoyles take on their new duties, replacing their counterparts who no longer could. They, too, will develop mold and begin to wear, although I'm sure that the masons will apply modern conservation methods as resources permit. These gargoyles and grotesques reflect the community who made them and eventually they will become a bit mysterious to the eyes of future observers. I wonder what the future gargoyles will look like.