u/Julija82

I came across this carved W at Cardiff Castle. I doubt it’s medieval, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it were a few hundred years old rather than modern.
What do you think? Would people in the post-medieval or Victorian period have carved simple W marks like this, or does it strike you as something more recent?

A lonely letter T carved into the stone at Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle is one of the greatest medieval fortresses in Wales, dating back to the 13th century. What surprised me was how little graffiti survives here — this simple T appears to be the only historic-looking mark I could find inside the castle.
Was it someone’s initial? A visitor’s mark? Or something else entirely? Interestingly, Cardiff Castle also seems to have very little surviving graffiti (apart from a much later-looking W), which makes me wonder why some medieval buildings are full of graffiti while others have almost none.

Have you noticed that some Nine Men’s Morris graffiti are carved on vertical walls where they couldn’t realistically have been used as game boards?
In A Consensus of Symbols, Wayne Perkins suggests that at least some of these carvings may have served an apotropaic purpose rather than simply being gaming boards. His argument is that examples found on doorways, pillars, and walls, especially in churches are often impractical for play, implying a symbolic function instead.
He also explores the idea that the repeated geometric pattern may have been seen as a protective device, intended to confuse or trap malevolent spirits, much like other medieval protective marks such as daisy wheels and Marian symbols.
What do you think? Were at least some merels boards carved primarily as protective symbols rather than for playing the game?

I started reading A Consensus of Symbols: Patterns in Ritual Building Protection by Wayne Perkins yesterday, and one of the first ideas that caught my attention is how closely Christianity and folk belief may have coexisted in the medieval period.
Perkins also explores the possibility that some ritual protection marks in churches may not have been carved solely by ordinary parishioners, but in some cases could have involved craftsmen, clergy, or even cunning folk. If so, it paints a fascinating picture of a time before the boundaries between accepted religious practice and folk magic became much more rigid.
The book was only published a week or two ago, so I don’t have any conclusions yet. Has anyone else started reading it?

The Great Bed of Ware is a giant oak bed made around 1590 as an attraction for travellers staying at an inn in Hertfordshire. Now in the V&A Museum, it’s covered in centuries of carved names, initials and even wax seals left by visitors—turning it into a remarkable record of historic graffiti.

Found these stamped bricks in King’s Cross, London. They don’t appear to be medieval graffiti but rather Victorian brick manufacturers’ marks that were moulded into the bricks before firing.
I thought they were an interesting reminder that even ordinary building materials often carry the signatures of the people or companies that made them. Does anyone recognise the maker’s mark?