Around the turn of the 13th century, decorative carvings in the form of human heads became popular in church architecture. Whether grotesque caricatures or proud portraits, these pieces of art have fossilised a record of medieval persons, clothing, hairstyles and headwear.

Rochester Cathedral features dozens of finely sculpted label stops and corbels featuring human heads from the 12th to the 19th centuries (and one notable 21st-century replacement). Many are depicted grimacing, thought to scare away evil spirits in a similar manner to grotesques and gargoyles placed on the Cathedral exterior.

Fragmentary evidence occasionally survives of their original painted decoration, such as the stubble and ruddy complexion of the hooded monk above, one of four huge corbel heads supporting the transverse ribs of the North Nave Transept. The subjects can be identified by clothing or hairstyle. Crowned kings and queens are present, as well as bishops wearing their characteristic mitre, such as the unknown bishop perched in the dark eastern corner of the north nave aisle. Most of those at the cathedral feature monks with hooded-robes or with a characteristic form of haircut called tonsure, where some or all of the scalp is shaved as a sign of religious devotion. The tonsured monk at the east of the north nave transept is so fine, it raises the question of whether it has been replaced in the nineteenth century - perhaps by the eponymous graffiti artist Brookland?

However, it is sometimes open to interpretation what might be a tonsure and what might be male pattern baldness. Several depictions of women have captured a headdress popular in the 13th century known as the barbette and coif, the right of a pair of label stops on the east of the transept. The barbette was primarily a decorative element and unlikely to have been worn by a nun or abbess. The fabric wrapped around the chin (the coif), was used to cover the hair as a statement of modesty.

There is ongoing debate as to whether some of these carved heads are portraits of the patrons (or sponsors) of the architecture they adorn. Many seem too grotesque or distorted to have been true portraits. Those featuring kings and queen have been made to resemble images from illuminated manuscripts, but it is thought masons would not often work from live models or images of those they sought to depict. The more recognisable heads aside, amongst many characterful or anguished heads are several subjects that have been treated more sympathetically. Although the names of those depicted are probably forever lost to us, these do perhaps depict wealthy and generous benefactors.

There are dozens of head stops and corbels all around the Cathedral, you can see more models in the collections of the Nave aisles, the North Nave Transept, the South Nave Transept, the Quire, North Quire Aisle and South Quire Aisle.

Jacob Scott
Research Guild

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