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The Wall Carvings
'Mouse over' the picture for a brief description. Click on the picture for a larger image.
The carvings in the cave include four saints known to have been revered by the Templars. Below the
original entrance is St. Christopher, patron saint of travellers, with the child Jesus on his shoulder and staff
in hand. Moving to the left high up on the west part of the wall is St. Katherine for whom the Templars had
a special regard as it was on St. Katherine's day in 1177 that they had a notable victory over the Saracen
Saladin. Farther to the left is St. Lawrence who was martyred on the gridiron. Next is the figure with drawn
sword said to be St. Michael or possibly St. George, patron saint of England who in symbolic terms saved
the lady (the church) from the dragon (the devil or the oppressor). St George's sword points to the twelve
apostles with Judas the small figure at the back towards the right-hand end of the row.
The large panel on the left of St. Christopher represents the Holy Sepulchre having a damaged figure of
Christ awaiting the resurrection above the large niche on the left. Mary Magdalene, or an angel on the
right-hand side sits on the stone rolled away from the entrance. The dove and the hand above represent
the Holy Spirit. The niche below probably held a lamp.
The long row of figures below includes both men and women and although none can be identified those
marked with crosses are possibly saints and those with hearts are martyrs. The two small figures below
St. Katherine are Richard I (Lion Heart) and his queen Berengaria whose crown is shown floating above
her head as she was never actually crowned Queen. The long vertical cross on their left is a branched or
floriate cross and represents the high altar.
Beneath St. Lawrence is a figure with upraised arms, said until recently to be King William of Scotland.
The letters WR marked on this figure are unlikely to be original. He has now been positively identified as
King David the writer of the psalms. A similar figure appears at the head of a 13th century illuminated
manuscript of Psalm 69, now in Trinity College Library, Cambridge, where David is shown rising from
the water. Psalm 69 is a plea for help and a lament about being misunderstood and it may be a reflection
of the position in which the Templars found themselves at the end of the 13th century.
The two figures close together, one with a repaired head, to the right of the damaged section of the wall
under the original entrance, may be all that remains of a known Templar sign, two Knights riding the same
horse. This sign appears for example on Templar seals and was an illustration of the name they gave
themselves - The poor fellow soldiers of Christ.
Elsewhere in the cave are Calvary scenes with Mary and John and a group showing the Holy Family but
uncertainty surrounds the remaining figures in the cave. There are several large niches among the carvings,
which must have been for relics or lights.
The graffiti found in the dungeons in the Chateaux de Chinon included the Palestinian axe head below the
Calvary scene by Richard I and again at the bottom of the floriate cross, hearts and hands and the circular
devices to the left of the cross and the right of St. George.
The whole surface of the lower part of the cave is covered with names cut by visitors, a result of the
uncontrolled access to the cave before the time when Royston Town Council took over the cave and
installed the railings to prevent visitors touching the soft carvings.
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