Apotropaios - Ritual Marks

Ritual Marks	Daisy wheel from a chimney lintel in Chelvey Court, Somerset.
in historic buildings

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Before describing ritual marks it is important to be aware that carpenter's marks can also usually be found in a timber building. These were used extensively as part of the assembly process for erecting timber framed buildings. The marks usually form a numerical sequence which helped the builder to know which timbers to join together and in what order when they were laying out the frames which would then be erected. There are many varieties of carpenter's marks and it is important not to confuse them with ritual marks.

This example of a daisy with intials and date was found within the porch of Stocklynch Church, Somerset. Immediately above the illustrated example is another daisy wheel making a nice pair of images.

Daisy wheels are very common but vary in the amount of 'petals' that they have.

Several symbols have been engraved on to wooden beams and sometimes drawn into plaster work on ceilings and walls. The most common of these is the ‘daisywheel’. It is a compass-drawn circle with petals within it and it appears on buildings and on furniture within buildings throughout Britain. It appears to have been a general protection against ill-fortune or was deemed a good luck symbol. These 'daisy wheels' are common throughout England and Wales with many examples from Kent, Devon, Shropshire, Powys and Yorkshire. It is likely, however, that they are far more widespread than this.

These overlapping circles are just a few of those which appear on a sealed door in Harvington Hall, Worcestershire. The door formerly gave access to a wing of the buiding now demolished. Circles like this are another fairly common manifestation of ritual marks.

Circles on door in Harvington Hall, Worcestershire

Ritual marks in their most complex form are not so widely known at present. This may be due to the fact that they are usually very lightly etched or scored on to timbers, sometimes so lightly that they are invisible unless a bright light is aimed obliquely along a beam. When the marks are very light and in areas of a building that are difficult to reach, it seems that they were made by the carpenters or builders prior to the erection of the building. There are also, however, many examples which appear to have been done after the building was erected. The pioneer of this subject, who has undertaken extensive original research, is Timothy Easton. Without his work this page would not exist. He has begun to unravel the possible meaning of these marks.

These marks are from the chimney lintel at Camp Green Farm, Debenham, Suffolk. This illustration is from Timothy Easton's article - see below for details of the article:

Marks on chimney lintel, Camp Green Farm, Debenham, Suffolk

Another example of marks on a chimney lintel is shown here from a cottage in Bedfield, Suffolk:

Chimney lintel marks from a cottage in Bedfield, Suffolk

In many examples a recurring theme is a kind of 'M', 'V' and 'W' crossing of lines. 'P' shapes sometimes occur and there can often be a kind of 'grid' effect where parallel lines are drawn at right angles to each other. A good example of this was found at a house in Wilstone, Shropshire. Many of the marks look rather like strings of runes or even ancient ogham script but it is likely that this is simply the product of the choice of tools and the nature of the surface on to which they've been written.

This image is of marks on the hall lintel of The Swan at Worlingworth in Suffolk. The marks are very fine. Here there is a combination of 'M', 'W' and 'P' shapes which recur in several examples studied by Timothy Easton. This photograph is from his article - see below for some bibliographical details of his work.

Marks on hall lintel in The Swan, Worlingworth, Suffolk

Timothy has found that most of the marks date from the 16th to the 18th centuries and it appears that they were used to invoke the protection of the Virigin Mary through the use of the 'V' and 'M' shapes. The 'P' shapes are a little more mysterious but a discussion on their possible meaning can be found in Timothy's article.

You can meet Timothy Easton and find out even more about his fascinating work by attending a day-school with him at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. Click here to find out more.