Gargoyles

Gargoyles, in medieval - especially Gothic - church architecture, served the practical purpose of water spouts which projected from a roof, parapet, wall or tower. They were carved into grotesque figures, human or animal, often portrayed with impolite gestures such as pulling faces, sticking tongues out, picking noses or worse. Gothic builders and masons clearly relished the opportunity they provided to indulge the imagination and we can assume that the stone carvers were given a more or less free hand in executing them. To the less than sophisticated the gargoyles were also often regarded as effectively scary figures to frighten off evil spirits.

To the modern viewer, gargoyles might seem surprising and out of place on a sacred building but we would certainly be wrong to assume that piety excluded a sense of humour. While the Fettes gargoyles are purely decorative they do share much with their medieval predecessors in adding an element of humour to an otherwise very imposing building and reminding us of the consummate craftsmanship of the many masons who worked on the fabric of this great example of nineteenth century Neo-Gothic architecture.