The Green Man in Kent |
This Green Man on the choir
Ornamental design
From a 17th century seat
The Green Man here is from
This is one of several Green Men |
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The Green Man dwells in churches and cathedrals yet his origin is far more ancient...The haunting face of this Green Cat is carved on a bench end in the parish church at Charing, at the heart of Kent. Why a Green Cat? Well, one possibility is that,in former times, the cat was regarded as the embodiment of the Corn Spirit. From the green cat's mouth springs forth vegetation and fertility. In Frazer's day, in France, cats were still being dressed in leaves and ribbons and loosed into the fields to celebrate Harvest. Unfortunately, the Green Cat or, even, the Green Man could be seen as representing the sacrificial victim - to ensure a good harvest for the next year, a payment needed to be made and the Green Man is very often like a severed head. When Green Men are depicted, there is frequently a blending between cat and man. There is strange legend about Charing church - it contains the stone on which St John the Baptist was beheaded.
These fine painted roof bosses are looking down on the altar in Rochester Cathedral. Several of them are Green Men, one is a Green Cow and another is a Green... well, I don't actually know what manner of creature it is!
These roof bosses are, perhaps, 19th century restorations, however the two
stone Green Men date from 1353, when Bishop Hamo, on whose tomb they are
carved, died. In this context the Green Man - leaves growing from a head - might
symbolise the hope of resurrection.
The enigmatic Green Lion to the left is a fragment of very ancient glass at Headcorn; the Renaissance Green Man, above, with the lovely smile is in a window at Lullingstone. I am fairly sure that, by the Renaissance, there was no symbolism attached to these ornamental Green Man: it is easy for the hand to draw a face and swirls of foliage, he became just a decorative motif. However, by the 19th century, as these examples on banks at Blackheath and Faversham attest, he became a symbol of wealth and production.
The wise and compassionate 'head-in-leaves' Green Man on the left is in Lenham
church; he looks out into the nave from what Larkin calls 'The Holy End'. Four centuries separate these two Green Men at Patrixbourne. The Norman
capital, strangely Celtic, guards the church door - the Green Man is often a
guardian of doors. The VERY tiny Green Man below is from one of Patrixbourne's
famous 16th century windows. Note, incidentally, the trefoil figure beneath the
Green Man on the capital - this is often found with Green Men. What does it
mean? Oh, and he has cat's ears, as well...
The head above is one of 4 ancient heads in Boughton-under-Blean. I'm not sure if it's a Green Man or not, whether that is a beard or foliage beneath the mouth. However, it seems to have the same expression as the Charing Green Cat - Green Men generally seem to have more pathos, compassion, wisdom, life or even fierceness than simply a carved head. There seems to be a power in his association with the leaf. On the left, the horned Green Man holds up an 18th century plaque of the Cinque
Port coat of arms in Fordwich church, where this unusual stained-glass leafy
Jesus can also be found.
This row of Green Creatures is on the Norman Great West Door of Rochester Cathedral. Here we have, juxtaposed, the Green Man from the 12th century to the 19th. This wooden Green Man is on a misiericord in Wingham church, he has his tongue protruding as well as leaves. This has led some commentators to speculate as to whether a Green Man is a dead man; sometimes the Green Man's contorted face reminds us of Tollund Man. However, the stange Green Man below, on an 18th century wall memorial in the fine church at Upper Hardres must be associated with life after death in the Christian sense. The scroll on a wall memorial is often a place where a Green Man can be found.
To the left: this Victorian carving in Shepherdswell church and the corbel from St
Nicholas-at-Wade below it represent, perhaps, the closest we have to a Green
Woman.
Barfreston - three of the Green Things. The middle one is from the wheel window and is similar in period and style to those on Rochester's West Door.
Wye - a Green Man and, yes, a Green Boar on the string course around the outside of the church.
St Nicholas-at-Wade - the very distinctive Green Men on a capital inside the church. Note the crown and the fleur-de-lis.
The woodwose, a sort of cousin of the Green Man, is the legendary European
'wild man of the woods'. Oddly, given his wildness, he is associated with nobility
of spirit and also the aristocracy - he is frequently found on coats of arms. There
are quite often female woodwoses and couples! The woodwose usually carries a
stick or bough as a weapon, as does this fellow on a misericord in Faversham's
parish church.
The 'Invicta Legend' is commemorated on this plaque: The Men of Kent have disguised themselves with the cut boughs of a forest to ambush William the Conqueror and petition for their ancient rights to be upheld. The scene reminds us of Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane in Macbeth... 'The wood began to move.'
The Green Dragon at Stone, Nr Dartford, illustrates another thought behind the symbolism of the Green Man - sin, represented by the green foliage, is being generated by the dragon and his swallowing of it is his deliberate unrepentance. Several sources point to this interpretation. This dragon is shaped into an Ourobouros: the cycle of sin is eternal.
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