New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-03-12
STRANGE Marks IN ENGLISH CHURCHES.
CIRCLES. DOTS AND LINES OF UNKNOWN MEAN
ING ON ANCIENT WALLS

CIRCLES. DOTS AND LINES OF UNKNOWN MEAN
ING ON ANCIENT WALLS.
From The Church Gazette.
There are on the walls Of many English
churches particularly those Of the South Mid
land counties, mysterious marks, some fairly
large. many very small. that have puzzled &C.
Gle biologists ever since that inestimable RAGS
existed They are most common on the souL
wall OF the nave and aisleS. Almost invariably
they are at such a height as would show that
they cannot have been made by village oilers
Of the class wh) have favored US with so many
cIp-marks They fall into three main classes
% dot surrounded by one or more concentrlc
circles; 60 circles containing radi, more or less
numerous; and 90 dots arranged in squares
sometimes connected by lines and sometimes
not. With regard to these last. own / az
unable TO even suggest theory. l could give
a list Of things they cannot possibly mean, bu,
what they do is "Jeames' is reported t
have remarked, "wroppd in mystery
The second variety | want to speak OF Is thu
circle with rad Sometimes there are twelve
radl. sometimes twenty-four. sometimes an odd
number Sometimes the radii confined 20
one part Of the circle, sometimes not. II IS
confessedly about this variety that the interest
in wal-marks eliminates. In some instances
there can be no doubt that they are incomplete
sun-dias. though in these cases, as at Red
bourne 1Herts) they are so unastrOnomically
arranged as to lead TO the conclusion that our
early ancestors ySre as Indifferent as If they had
been Orientals u the flight Of tine But the
majority cannot by any stretch OF the imaglna-
ton have been time recorders No one would
nut a dial on the south inner wall OF a church
Another theory which has been started Is that
these marks are a survival Of an ancient belief
in orientation. But these marks are not to be
found in Norman churches The earliest we
can absolutely date First Pointed. why.
then. should a helthen belief have lain dormant
for a couple Of hundred years, at least, and
then have been suddenly and without reason
revived? / desire to reward my readers by pro-
pounding a brand-new theory. IT is remarkable
that We A. not find these circular marks CON
tanning radii common on our cathedras or great
fanes Nearly all are on the walls Of obscure
village churches. We know now that in build
ing minister's and abbeys the wOrkmen had plans
and elevations much they have to-day. but
that such was the case with small and unm-
portant II equally artistic. buildings IS highly
| improbable Yet the very regularity OF design
shows that there must have been some master
mind who directed the whole building. The
theory | wish to PROFOUND is that some AT
least Of these wall-marks with their varying
radil were intended, II the Zines were continued.
to mark such salient points OF the building as
the base or springng lines or windows. the ele-
walton Of a moulding, OF the coping stone OF the
gable, or what not II this should have been
the intention Of the lnscribers 1t is difficult 10
imagine any more useful guide % those who de-
sire either with a view TO restoration OF Tor
mere study. to discover what Ike was an an
cent church