Medieval Graffiti Reveals History

Graffiti is an overwhelming menace when you're managing anywhere, let alone historical sites, but for one team in Norfolk graffiti is proving useful. The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey is going round collecting and recording all traces of pre-Reformation graffiti in the county, and they're finding a lot in churches, where the coloured walls would be scraped to reveal stone. The BBC has some examples, such as the image of a ship, which might relate to prayers for safe sailing, and architectural drawings scratched in. There's also the news that six other counties are going to check for graffiti to see what they can find.