St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Gosberton.
Approaching the main entrance to the church – through the South Porch – there’s no smiling host or even a fun or quirky welcome mat to usher us in with good heart. Instead, we are greeted with an array of grotesque faces, sneering, snarling or poking fun at us. It’s as if we are not welcome at all.
Have no fear; we are just reading the signals all wrong, apparently.
Whilst there is no absolute consensus on their purpose, the general view is that they are either a symbolic warding-off of evil spirits, or else they served as constant reminders that the outside world was dangerous and full of sin and demons. Another theory is that they were to scare people into coming to church. They perhaps reminded churchgoers of the torment that lay ahead for them if they failed to attend church regularly, or were blasphemers.
Either way, the intention was to convey to a medieval, God-fearing congregation that salvation and safety lay within the church.
So, a welcome of sorts after all!
