Heraldic graffiti is not uncommon, although sadly it is rare for it to be positively identified with a particular family.

Heraldry relies on colour for identification purposes, and graffiti inscriptions contain no colour (or if they did, it has been lost). So even a neatly executed shield, with identifiable elements, but no colour, could potentially have belonged to several different families.

Heraldic graffiti can vary enormously in detail and quality, from full coats of arms, to simple scratched outlines of shields, seemingly no more than generic.

It is notable that this type of graffiti appears the most likely to be subsequently defaced. It seems possible that this was due to malice against the individual or family represented.

Graffiti depicting ships is not uncommon, and there are as many examples found inland as on the coast.

We might think that ship graffiti on the walls of a coastal church was simply the result of local sailors and their families sketching what they saw every day. The work of the survey nationwide, however, has shown that although many ship images are located in coastal churches, with particular concentrations around medieval ports, just as many are to be found inland – even as far from the coast as Leicestershire. It is also notable that the inland ships are seagoing vessels too rather than river craft. The ships vary from extremely simple depictions, with just a few rough lines representing the hull, and with or without a mast, to examples with details of planking, rigging, gun ports, flags, and people aboard.

In some churches, such as St Nicholas, Blakeney (Norfolk), and St Thomas, Winchelsea (Sussex) there is a distinct distribution pattern to the ships. At Blakeney, despite the whole church being covered by early inscriptions, all the ship graffiti appears on the south arcade, clustered around a side altar and an empty image niche. Remarkably, each ship was drawn respecting the other images around it, and it is believed that they were created over a period of at least two centuries.

It is suggested that many of these ship images were devotional in nature – perhaps made in thanks for a voyage safely undertaken, or as a prayer for a safe future voyage. It seems possible that the images represent informal versions of the votive ship models displayed within churches in the middle ages, and later.

Inscribed ships have been found recently in a number of Devon churches.

The Ragged Staff motif, as found in church graffiti, was once believed to be associated with the Earls of Warwick, whose livery displayed the Bear and Ragged Staff.

Due to the realisation of its broad geographical occurrence, however, and the lack of evidence for such a badge associated with any other noble family, it was realised that the staff must have had another meaning.

Examples of inscribed staffs are often found in association with known religious symbols and it is now considered likely that the staff also has a religious meaning. It is not unusual to find depictions of staffs in medieval religious imagery, the most common probably being that accompanying St Christopher. There are instances where ragged staff graffiti has been found in areas of the church which have other associations with this saint, suggesting a possible link.

There is at least one graffito of a ragged staff in Exeter Cathedral.

Once a common site in churches everywhere, these crosses are often today found only as outlines in the stonework, and as such are sometimes mistaken for graffiti.

When a church was first constructed (or significantly altered), it was consecrated by the local Bishop prior to worship taking place. The Bishop would bless the building and anoint it with holy oil, twelve times outside and twelve times inside, each location being marked with a cross.

When originally created each of these crosses would have been painted, most usually in a red pigment, and surviving examples can be found in many churches across England. However, in most churches the pigment has now been lost, leaving only the scored setting-out lines of the crosses visible.

Graffiti crosses can vary from elaborate and deeply incised examples, which clearly took some time and care to make, to mere scratches on the surface.

Results from East Anglia suggest that almost 80% of cross inscriptions are found around the entrance doorway and most usually, if there is one, in the porch. (Interestingly this does not seem to be the case in Devon, so far). Often they appear in clusters or in small groups.

Traditionally, crosses were thought to have been created by people leaving to go on a pilgrimage, or as thanksgiving for a safe return. There appears, however, to be little evidence for such an interpretation and it has been suggested that crosses within a porch may rather be related to activities that took place there, many of which included the making or taking of vows. In the middle ages the porch, or area at the church door, was important for both religious and social functions. These included the marriage ceremony, burial service and the churching of women after childbirth. The porch also functioned as a parish office, where contracts were drawn up and witnessed.

The most frequently found upright cross is the simple ‘Calvary’ or Latin type, although others, with more than one crossbar, are also seen. The saltire or diagonal cross (as in the Cross of St Andrew), seems to be quite common, although this is generally associated with an apotropaic function. Interestingly, the saltire cross forms part of a traditional design on iron door/window latches and locks, possibly due to its perceived protective qualities.

Finding early textual graffiti is very exciting but often frustrating too as many examples prove difficult or even impossible to read.

In some cases the difficulties arise because the inscription is just too worn to be legible, while in others, including those in medieval Latin, the text may include contractions and abbreviations and individual letterforms may be unfamiliar or unclear.

Types of inscription found include prayers and biblical or other verses; rebuses (a word puzzle combining letters and pictures); names, sometimes with a date and probably representing a memorial; curses, which can include symbols and names written upside down or back to front; accounts of events, including catastrophes such as plague, fires and storms; records of works undertaken on the church building, and notices to the congregation, such as that there should be no talking during the service!

Other letters found as graffiti include frequent probable initials, sometimes accompanied by a date. Not all single or paired/triple letters necessarily represent initials though, and numbers may also have special significance.

A fairly common find is a lone capital I with a central cross bar (sometimes slight). This particular letter often represents an early form of J, and when found alone is believed to refer to the name Jesus.

Other representations of the name Jesus include the Latin or Greek forms IH, IHC, IHS, XPS and JC .

The letters P, and R, are not uncommon in churches and houses, although their meanings as lone letters are not clear. P is often found near to the door of a church, suggesting an apotropaic function.

Reversed letters are commonly seen and are probably mainly due to limited literacy, although reversed, or inverted (upside down) words may have another significance, being found in magical charms.

The W or ‘V V’ symbol is probably the most common single mark to be found as graffiti in churches.

The symbol is often referred to as a ‘Marian mark’ as it has traditionally been associated with the medieval cult of the Virgin Mary, or Maria. The V’s are thought to have once stood for ‘Virgo Virginum’ – Virgin of Virgins or inverted, as M, for Maria, possibly deriving extra significance from having the same meaning whichever way up it was. It is one of the few inscribed marks that occasionally also appear in formal church imagery, including on bench ends and stonework, and often in combination with other known Marian letters (AM, AMR) and symbols.

The use of the W or V V symbol as graffiti is very long lived and is found in churches, domestic buildings and in caves. It seems likely that the medieval religious meaning as an invocation to Mary was lost or changed emphasis over time. It is clear from the common use of the marks around doors, windows and other openings, however, that they continued to have an important protective or apotropaic function.

A common find in many churches are multiple scored dots or holes, sometimes arranged in a regular pattern.

In a number of cases (Norfolk examples) the dots appear to follow numerical values, being found in generally uneven numbers, and commonly in groups of three, five, seven and nine. Certain uneven numbers had considerable significance in the medieval church, such as the Trinity and the seven sacraments, and numbers were also regarded as powerful within aspects of medieval magic.

In some areas, particularly in France and Spain, it was until recently believed that the stone or plaster of the church, ground to a fine powder and mixed with wine, was an effective cure for many illnesses and diseases. It seems possible that some holes are the result of stone being removed for such purposes, perhaps especially when the holes are fairly large.

It has been noted in Devon that some holes are neat and sometimes conical, while others are deep and irregularly formed, as if the maker was strongly emphasising the purpose, or perhaps even that the prime intention was to remove fabric.