The figure is part of the roof truss to the north side of the nave at St. Eilian in Llaneilian, Anglesey. Look closely between its hands and you will see what looks like a pulley.
Other figures in the church are playing instruments. I first thought it might be playing cymbals, but noticed a hook above the rood screen. The rood screen is a partition between nave and chancel - a pre-reformation lay out that contributed the a partitioning of the mass from the public.
Might this figure be part of an elaborate pulley system that revealed the host to the congregation during special occasions adding a theatrical dimension to the mystery of the mass?
Actions and activities such as this were part of a wider series of theatrical displays and rituals that embellished the lives of church-goers for centuries.
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