Illustrated Dictionary of British Churches - Grotesque Definition
History and Architecture
- Aisle
- Altar
- Ambulatory
- Angel Roof
- Apophyge
- Apse
- Arcade
- Arch
- Archivolt
- Base
- Battlement
- Bay
- Belfry
- Bell Tower
- Bellcote
- Bench End
- Board Bell Turret
- Body
- Boss
- Box pew
- Bracket
- Broach Spire
- Buttress
- Canopy
- Capital
- Cartouche
- Chancel
- Chancel Arch
- Chancel Screen
- Chantry
- Chapel
- Chapter House
- Choir
- Clerestory
- Cloister
- Communion Rail
- Compound Column
- Consecration Cross
- Corbel Head
- Crossing
- Crypt
- Early English
- Easter Sepulchre
- Effigy
- Fan Vaulting
- Font
- Font cover
- Funerary Helm
- Gallery
- Gargoyle
- Gothic
- Green Man
- Grotesque
- Hatchment
- Herringbone
- Hogback Tomb
- Holy Water Stoup
- Hunky Punk
- Jesse Window
- Kempe Window
- Lady Chapel
- Lancet
- Lectern
- Lierne
- Lych Gate
- Misericord
- Monumental Brass
- Mullion
- Nave
- Ogee
- Organ
- Parclose Screen
- Parish Chest
- Pendant
- Perpendicular Gothic
- Pew
- Pinnacle
- Piscina
- Poor Box
- Poppy Head
- Porch
- Priest's Door
- Pulpit
- Purbeck Marble
- Quire
- Rebus
- Reliquary
- Reredos
- Retable
- Romanesque
- Rood
- Rood Loft
- Rood screen
- Rood Stair
- Rose Window
- Round Tower
- Sanctuary
- Sanctuary Knocker
- Saxon Period
- Scratch Dial
- Sedilia
- Spire
- Statue Niche
- Stoup
- Tomb Recess
- Tracery
- Transept
- Triforium
- Tympanum
- Undercroft
- Vaulting
- Victorian Gothic
- Wall Monument
- Wall Painting
- Wheel Window
Grotesque
A grotesque is a carved figure, usually of a mytholigical creature, demon, or strange beast, used as an ornamental feature in church decoration. The term is sometimes confused with gargoyle, which is a special type of carved beast used to decorate a drainpipe. Grotesques can be found almost anywhere inside or outside a church, but are often used to decorate a frieze just under the eaves or as projecting carvings on a tower. Grotesques might depict human figures or faces, demons, animals, or other mythical creatures, often with exaggerated fierce of humourous expressions. Some are obviously meant to lampoon real local characters or represent church patrons.
Related: Gargoyle
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Isle Abbotts, Somerset
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Muchelney, Somerset
