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The church of Church Stretton is a large 14th century building with
elements of previous Norman architecture in keeping with
the nearby churches of Holdgate and Tugford.. The Sheela can be found on
the north face of the building over an old Norman doorway. As you can see from
the photograph it is quite weathered, the stone has a reddish tinge which
is dissimilar from the surrounding stones but is similar to the red
sandstone which incorporated from an earlier Norman chapel. Just below the carving is
another small carving of a flower which appears to be of the same stone..
This would seem to indicate that this was not it's original position and
might have been taken from an earlier structure. The vagina has been
filled in with a small stone this may be an attempt to make the image a
little less "crude". An unusual feature of this figure is the
fat thighs or knees. You can just make out vestigal ribs on the chest of
the figure. All in all the carving is quite crude which again makes it
look at odds with the rest of the church. It is quite high up on the
church and appears to be guarding the door below it. This is also the case
with the Tugford figures and
to a lesser extent the Holdgate
Sheela. Another feature of the carving is that it has been dressed only on the
left hand side the other sides being left rough. This may indicate it was once
part of an opening such as a window or doorway
The Tugford,
Holdgate and
Church Stretton
Sheelas are all in the same vicinity. Holdgate and Tugford being a mile
distant from each while Church Stretton is about 10 miles away. You can
see the positioning of the sheela below, the flower carvings are just to the
right of protruding black stone above the middle of the arch. The door is no
longer in use and if you go into the church you can see that it is in fact
blocked up. To the right of the doorway is a Saxon stone coffin thought to be
one of the oldest artefacts the church owns.
There is more information on the Shropshire group of sheelas at the Shropshire
Promotions website
The sheela above the Norman doorway
The saxon stone coffin near the sheela.
