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How joyful I was to stumble across this little museum in the Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod Wells
Costing only £1 entry, I recommend to all..
No dog's apart from guide dogs
Parking is close and access is easy with disabled visitors in mind
Costing only £1 entry, I recommend to all..
No dog's apart from guide dogs
Parking is close and access is easy with disabled visitors in mind
Info Taken from the Museums website:
Found in a medieval context, the date is unknown, but it may
be Dark Ages; some examples of these figures date back to the Iron Age. Often
depicted in relief, they are usually baldheaded crones, crudely carved, with the
emphasis placed upon the depiction of the vulva.
The relief figure at the Radnorshire Museum is unusual in that she has teeth (incisors and canine in upper and lower jaw) and is well preserved, having been buried underneath the floor in the Old Parish Church for many years.
Sheela-na-Gig figures are found in Ireland, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire (Adderbury), Gloucestershire (Ampney St Peter), Shropshire (Tugford, where there are two at St Catherine's Church) and Church Stretton (St Lawrence's), Herefordshire (the nearest one to Llandrindod Wells being at Kilpeck at the north string course of the church). There are no known examples on standing stones or other pagan sites in England or Wales.
The relief figure at the Radnorshire Museum is unusual in that she has teeth (incisors and canine in upper and lower jaw) and is well preserved, having been buried underneath the floor in the Old Parish Church for many years.
Sheela-na-Gig figures are found in Ireland, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire (Adderbury), Gloucestershire (Ampney St Peter), Shropshire (Tugford, where there are two at St Catherine's Church) and Church Stretton (St Lawrence's), Herefordshire (the nearest one to Llandrindod Wells being at Kilpeck at the north string course of the church). There are no known examples on standing stones or other pagan sites in England or Wales.
Interpretations as to the meaning of these figures vary but
they are usually associated with the thresholds of mediaeval churches and many
are found over entrance doorways decorating the tympanum. In has been suggested
that Sheela-na-Gig figures were used to represent the hellish nature of pagan
belief but more modern commentaries suggest that it is more likely that their
incorporation into Christian churches indicated a continuation of goddess
worship and this idea seems especially prevalent in Ireland. Sheela-na-Gig
figures may also be found on Irish castles and standing stones indicating that
they were also thought to have strong powers of protection is a secular
context.
For more Info See:
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