Dunwich Artefacts : A Series of Little Stories
Join us in telling the stories of our artefacts; some we know, and some are mysteries. Blogs by Caroline Gay Way, a resident artist and Bard.
Artefact 1 - The Stone Mystery
So much of what Dunwich once was has been irretrievably lost in the deep mists of the past. Every so often intriguing fragments of Dunwich past life come to light.
One such artefact is a fist-sized porous stone block. This time-worn stone has two mysterious insets on each side. The purpose of these small carved recesses is lost in the maw of time.
There are 2 small enigmatic shapes are carved into the soft stone which seem made to hold things. The porous stone would absorb liquid so there was probably a very small metal or wooden vessel inset into this well. It looks as if it was made to hold liquid paint for manuscript work. Beside it is a recessed place that could be used for holding thin brushes upright. It also seems quite possible that it may also have been used as an inkwell and beside it, the hole is for a quill pen.
The other side has a recessed shape that obviously has a specific use that can only be guessed at. Both sides could not have been used simultaneously but it is obviously a dual-purpose object. It is for use on one side or the other depending on what was needed for the day's intended work.
Imagine a monk bent over his thin leather parchment in the Greyfriars scriptorium. The monk's life purpose is to illuminate God's word from dawn to dusk. He uses small amounts of precious gold paint and lapis lazuli blue. These extremely precious raw materials, ground down by mortar and pestle to make paint, were almost certainly traded along the Silk Road overseen by the Knights Templar. It is known there was a small Templar enclave in medieval Dunwich.
Artefact 2 - Of Sheep Bells & Pilgrims
The sound of ghostly Dunwich bells heard beneath the waves is legendary.
The city of Dunwich was renowned for its church bells. It was such a large religious hub that there is a Bishop of Dunwich even today.
Pictured here are three different bells identified as sheep bells. Similar to goats bells that can still be heard in rural Crete and other places. In Medieval Dunwich, it is well known there was a thriving wool trade with the Netherlands. The wool was sold to Dutch merchants where it was woven and dyed.
Similar to these bells are pilgrimage bells that are put on pilgrims' walking staffs. Small bells are still used on pilgrimages. The little bells on the walking sticks are heard every step of the way to keep pilgrims' attention on their quest for heaven’s blessing. It is said that bells call us toward healing and divinity the vibrations of bells are thought to awaken the spirit.
Imagine a medieval Dunwich soundscape of bleating sheep with little bells ringing as the sheep grazed in the fields around Dunwich conjoining with the jingling bells of pilgrims walking through the landscape towards the coast. Those pilgrims departing from Dunwich for the Holy Land could be viewed as being the holy sheep of The Good Shepherd.
Quote from Canterbury Badges by Jennifer Lee:
‘On some pilgrims’ staff-tops represented a saint to adorn walking sticks. Additionally, many bells and rattles seem to have had their origins in the pilgrimage.’
Quote from Walking - Pilgrims Clothing.
‘small spherical bell …the bell is to keep pulling attention back to the present - to reality and what you are doing rather than daydreaming as you walk’
Artetfact 3 - Thoughts on a Thimble
The first thimble of the sort we recognise today was made in 1695. It was made by a Dutchman. Dunwich had a thriving trade with the Dutch because of the wool trade and being very close geographically. It is interesting to speculate that because of this Dunwich may well have had some of the first Dutch thimbles in England!
The long history of thimbles in Britain begins as far back as the 10th century. Thimbles were called ‘pymels’ from an old word for thumb. It was called a ‘thumb-bell’ because it was worn on the thumb and shaped like a bell. Types of thimbles were first used for sewing leather and relevant to Dunwich used in sewing sails.
Other than being made of metal, thimbles have been found that are made of leather, rubber, wood, glass, china, whalebone, horn and ivory. Also, it is now known that some types of thimbles actually date back 30,000 years to mammoth hunters. It is interesting that mammoth fossils have been found close by in Norfolk.
Imagine it is early evening in a candlelit room in Dunwich. Several women sit heads bent over their sewing. With thimble, thread and needle they work to mend torn clothes. The sound of the wind and waves rises. They hear footsteps on the cobbles, their men are returning home. A young girl jumps up from her stool and claps her hands. A thimble is lost through a crack in the floor.
