For centuries carved writings & artworks in churches lay largely unnoticed So archaeologist Matthew Champion started a nationwide survey to gather the best examples In this book he shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships prayers for good fortune satirical cartoons charms curses windmills word puzzles architectural plans & heraldic designs Drawing on examples from surviving medieval churches in England the author gives a voice to the secret graffiti artists from the lord of the manor & the parish priest to the people who built the church itself Here are strange medieval beasts knights battling unseen dragons ships sailing across lime-washed oceans & demons who stalk the walls Latin prayers for the dead jostle with medieval curses builders' accounts & slanderous comments concerning a long-dead archdeacon Strange & complex geometric designs created to ward off the evil eye' & thwart the works of the devil share church pillars with the heraldic shields of England's medieval nobility