Yeovil's Virtual Museum

the African Masks

in St John's church

 

People rarely look upwards inside buildings, which is a pity as much is missed - especially in St John's church where there is a wealth of medieval carved roof bosses. You will, like me, need a very long telephoto lens or a pair of binoculars to see them.

This page is specifically for the roof bosses in the form of grotesque "African" masks, numbering about 30 in all and located primarily in the north and south aisles. The dating below is almost certainly applicable to the African bosses. Probably unique, the origins of these strange bosses are unknown.

According to Leslie Brooke "...in the roof, is a boss with the rather crudely painted royal arms of the fifteenth century. These are quartered England and France modern - the reverse of the order usually shown. It has recently been demonstrated that Henry IV, in amending the royal arms from France ancient, had not quite made up his mind, in 1404, as to the sequence of the quarterings - whether to give England or France priority - and that the very infrequent occurrence of the arms, as shown on the boss, occurred only in 1404-5, which would indicate the period that finishing touches were being applied to the newly-built church."

The painting seen on the bosses today is, of course, modern. Whether or not the bosses were painted originally is not known but unlikely, certainly not in the bright colours seen today,

 

For the carved church mice - click here

For the Medieval carved roof bosses - click here

 

 

In no particular order....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and also....

 

A monkey?

 

A jackal.