This most curious carving can be found on a house opposite the parish church in Brewood. The face (could it be a mask?) has its tongue sticking out... There is no explanation.
However, a passer-by told me that the story behind it is that, some many years ago, a lady so disliked her own sister - who lived in a house on the same street - that she had the carving specially made as a permanent signal to her unfortunate sibling. The sticking-out tongue pointed in the latter's direction, apparently.
Somehow this sums up an aspect of Staffordshire people - quite happy to tell it how it is (even to the point of rudeness), yet co-existing happily in the same street!
I can find no information about this on the web. So I'm happy to believe the story I heard!
There was something similar carved in a university in Toronto here- a stonemason carved faces resembling someone who hated him, and then himself, making a face at the other man.
ReplyDeleteApparently that ended in a murder and a haunting.
Good one.
ReplyDeleteMade me smile Mark, wonder if the sibling was tempted to create a 'carved in stone' response :)
ReplyDeleteA nice story you share - one can hope it wasn't true ;) Sad if sisters doesn't like each other.
ReplyDeleteLund & Budapest city daily