If there's one symbol that I come across in my travels across the country (more often than not in churches, but also in some secular buildings) it has to be the foliate head - popularly known as 'The Green Man.'
And now it has appeared on the Coronation invite.
Here are some of the my favourite places to see the Green Man and Green Woman in the woody flesh, as it were.
Go Visit
Green Man Map - Where to find them.
Medieval misericord, Hexham Abbey, Northumberland.
Medieval font, St. Mary, Stow, Lincolnshire.
Choir stalls, All Saints, Wing, Buckinghamshire.
Choir Stalls, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Choir Stalls, Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Choir Stalls, St. Mary the Virgin, Ketton, Rutland.
Alterative Viewpoint
Guy Shrubsole calls them 'mysterious grinning heads' and notes that 'some argue that the Green Man is a half-memory of the pre-Christian Wildwood; others contend that it appears in the greatest concentrations where there are surviving stretches of ancient woodland. '
He continues: "If nothing else, such carvings point to how familiar medieval culture was with the local ecology: an agrarian society living in tune with the seasons, utterly dependent on nature for its food, fuel and medicines. This leads us to the most likely explanation of the Green Man's true meaning as a symbol of nature's regenerative power, and its likely co-option by the Church as a metaphor for Christ returning from the dead."
The Lost Rainforests of Britain
Chancel, St. Mary, Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire.
Choir Stalls, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
South Porch, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
St. Mary the Virgin, Warmington, Northamptonshire.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Chancel Screen, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
Choir Stalls, St. David's Cathedral, St. Davids, Pembrokeshire.
Choir Stalls, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
Chancel Screen, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
Choir Stalls, St. Mary the Virgin, Ketton, Rutland.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Chancel, St. Mary, Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire.
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Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Chancel Screen, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
Is this for real? The 'Green Man' is not folklore, and the flowers within this context are charged with apparently unintended meaning, all of it belonging to the language of medieval Catholicism. https://t.co/jiMZMWdSkb
— Dr Jonathan Foyle (@JonathanFoyle) April 6, 2023
My latest piece for @spectator about this week’s Green Man furore. And the answer is no, by the way! https://t.co/bvU4jiKRI7
— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) April 6, 2023
Chapter House, Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire.
Choir Stalls, King's Lynn Minster, King's Lynn, Norfolk.
Just a few minutes comparison brings out a kind of foliate head typology. Those with tongues out, those with teeth and tongue, those with tendrils coming from their mouths and those from their faces or eyes. Human faces, sprites, kings and bishops.
Tendrils from the mouth, nose or eyes - do they represent a subtle shift in meaning? There's a strong link between the green growth and the senses.
Oak, hawthorn or vine? Do the different leaf types have a meaning?
I love the amount of creative ways that the foliate styles have been articulated to fit into the various architectural forms: finials, capitals, stops and bosses.
Nave, Beverley Minster, Yorkshire
Nave, Waltham Abbey, Essex.
Choir Stalls, St. Mary, Beverley, Yorkshire.
Chapter House, Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire.
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