Basically, Gargoyles are glorified waterspouts and a subset of Grotesques, which are decorative figures stuck onto the outside of buildings (for details see the Wikipedia entry as per the link below). Anyway, Oxford is full of both of them. This morning on my way to meeting a friend for breakfast I paused to take pictures of some of them on Magdalen College. I hope you appreciate them, I took most of them while standing in the middle of the road, dodging cars - luckily there aren't too many of them at 8 on a Sunday morning!
Interestingly enough, when these Grotesques need to be replaced - they are made of a very soft sandstone - they are often not replaced with copies of the originals, but with representations of modern humans. So one can observe heads with NHS eyeglasses, for example.
Of course, Oxford isn't the only place that is simply thronging with Grotesques, there are very famous one all over the world including Paris, New York, and, according to Wiki, some really nifty ones in the Baltic states.
Happy Sunday!
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| Magdalen College with its distinctive tower, whence choristers sing on May morning |
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| Definitely grotesque |
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| Definitely gargoyle |
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| Modern grotesques |
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| Entrance to Magdalen College |
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| Notice what he holds in his hand - a model of the college! |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle
