the church of st john baptist

Gargoyles & Hunky Punks

Adorning the fabric of St John's church

 

Gargoyles are carvings of grotesque figures, faces or creatures perching along the roofs and battlements of buildings and projecting from roof gutters. The gargoyle is one of the most recogniseable characteristics of Gothic architecture.

The etymology of the word derives from the French ‘gargouille’ meaning throat. The precise purpose of gargoyles was to act as a spout to convey water from the upper part of a building or roof gutter and away from the side of walls or foundations, thereby helping to prevent water from causing damage to masonry and mortar. The gargoyle would have a trough carved into its back down which rainwater would run and exit through the characteristically large open mouth.

While common parlance uses the term ‘gargoyle’ to mean any fantastical or mythical figure used for ornamental purposes, the strict architectural usage only applies to those serving a waterspout function. Purely decorative varieties are known as grotesques.

A hunky punk is a Somerset dialect for a grotesque carving. A hunky punk is often a short squatting figure, usually an animal or evil face, carved in stone. The name derives from the old English ‘hunkers’ meaning haunches, and ‘punchy’ meaning short-legged. While similar in appearance to gargoyles, a hunky punk is a purely architectural ornamental feature, rather than having the function of draining water.

The theory behind gargoyles and hunky punks, was that the very fabric of the church was intended to reflect the balance between good and evil. Consequently, for every saint or animal that was intended to signify purity and ‘goodness’, there was also an ugly creature to signify evil and ‘badness’.

  

Gallery

 

The parapet of St John's tower showing the gargoyles, but chiefly hunky punks, spaced every few feet on the string course around the base of the parapet of the tower and  the stair turret. Note the weathercock on the tower stair turret at the left and the Abbess of Syon's iron cross at the right. Note also one of the pair of nesting peregrine falcons on the parapet. Photographed in 2023.

 

A selection of Gargoyles from around all elevations of St John’s church. Photographed in 2023.