Oh Sheela

If you look up Hereford in a handful of travel books, there are a few things you will see in every one. You'll find the cathedral in town, it's famous Mappa Mundi, the Chained Library, something about apple cider, and finally, just outside of town: the church in Kilpeck.

The tiny village of Kilpeck actually lies just off a main road between the Lilacs and the wife's office. I knew the church was there but we just hadn't taken the time to drive down the winding, narrow country lane that leads into the village. This past week, we had some guests in town and finally made the trip.

The church, officially St. Mary and St. David's Church, is a phenomenal example of Norman architecture and also a great example of finding something amazing where you'd least expect it. Built around 1140, the small, quaint church stands in close to its original form. Much of the wonder of the church centers around the multitude of carvings that ring the doors and roof of the church, especially the Sheela Na Gig. But ... wait a minute ... it's not just any Sheela Na Gig, it's possibly the most important and most famous Sheela Na Gig of all.

Yes, I had to look it up too -- even after I saw the carving I didn't know what it meant. A Sheela Na Gig is a "carving of a woman with exposed and/or exaggerated genitalia, usually found on religious buildings". There are bunches of theories about what exactly these statues/carvings meant and how a symbol that could be considered extremely vulgar and might have ties to pagan religion would end up on Christian churches all over the place. One of the most accepted theories is that it is a warning against lust -- and that back in the day an image like this would have been more acceptable than our now much more prudish ways. Other theories are that it is a good luck symbol (flashing your lady bits back in the day was considered a way to wish good luck!) or a symbol to protect from evil (the devil doesn't like the look of lady bits.)

Either way, its quite shocking to see something like this on a church of all places. Some of the other carvings, while not as controversial, are quite interesting too, like a comical dog and hare montage, green men (another symbol with possible pagan origins), upside down stags, and many more.

This little place was one of my favorite things I have seen so far in England. Mysterious, beautiful, eerily quiet ... walking around it you felt a sense of a time long forgotten, long before blogs and the Internet made understanding the world a supposedly easier task.

I can't take credit for all the pictures here. The wife took my camera and hogged it for half our visit.