Three Giants: Gog, Magog, Tregeale and a Strange Carving30th Jul 2007 During his residency at Hole House in Branscombe, Devon (1957-1971), T.C. Lethbridge wrote frequently to his good friend C.W. ‘Fred’ Tebbutt. This remarkable sequence of letters contains valuable information on Tom’s developing fascination with occult matters. On reading the letters, one is privy to evolving theories that were to eventually surface in the remarkable series of books he wrote during the 1960s. However, the correspondence to Tebbutt also contains more prosaic matters as Tom updated his friend on ornithological happenings on the Devonshire coast, his current archaeological investigations and daily life at Hole. On 17 August 1969, Lethbridge wrote to Tebbutt informing him that he had received a letter from a W.J. Chambers of Saffron Waldon in Essex. Chambers had written, informing Lethbridge that he had encountered a depiction of Gogmagog in an Essex church. He stated that the chalk-cut hill figure discovered by Lethbbridge at Wandlebury Camp in Cambridgeshire was identical to a stone carving in St. Nicholas’ Church, Castle Hedingham.(1) Lethbridge recalled that he had once seen a depiction of Gogmagog in a church, but couldn’t remember where. He had never visited Castle Hedingham, but after reading Chambers letter, he was convinced that this was the carving he had once seen illustrated in a book.  Lethbridge found it quite remarkable that no one else had picked up on the carving and expressed his incredulity to Tebbutt: “What an extraordinary thing that no one has noticed it till (sic) now with all these hundreds of people crawling around churches. I always said most people went about with their eyes up their arseholes.”(2) Intrigued by Chambers’ observation, he suggested to Tebbutt that he would ask Geoffrey Bushnell to visit the church and take a photograph of the Castle Hedingham carving. Lethbridge informed his friend that three similar giants existed on Bodmin Moor. These were Gog, Magog and Tregeagle. Tregeagle was known to have once baled out Dozmary Pool using a limpet shell with a hole in it. (3) He was also known to carry a round shield like Wandil, he of the Faereyinga Saga. Lethbridge had visited Dozmary Pool on 17 March 1967 and had taken the opportunity to paint a watercolour of the body of water set against a nearby Tor. He described it as a bleak place and suggested that Brown Gelly – a tor that that overshadows the pool - was a suitable place for a chalk-cut giant to have once existed, for the subsoil was Kaolin – ideal for the creation of such a figure.(4) Lethbridge claimed to have known about Tregeale for years, but had only recently discovered that Gog and Magog were also associated with Bodmin Moor, after speaking with a Cornishman during his recent visit. Earlier this year, on 26 May 2007, I took a trip over to Castle Hedingham with my good friend Jonathan Rhys-Lewis. Johnny had already paid a reconnaissance visit to the church - situated close to his home in Colchester - so he immediately directed me to the figure that Chambers had highlighted for Lethbridge. On seeing the carving I was not convinced of Chambers’ claim, for the figure does not appear to resemble Lethbridge’s Gogmagog. The carving is built into the south wall of the side-chapel and even to this day, its origin and identity appear somewhat shrouded in mystery. Numerous guidebooks refer to it as being Norman in origin, but locally it is known as the ‘Saxon Stone’. If this is the case, then it is likely that the carving is possibly a remnant of an earlier church built previously on the site of the present Norman edifice. The cowled figure is indistinguishable and could quite easily represent the face of a woman or a priest. The guidebook for the church reads: “The top of the niche, set against the head, gives the effect of a coif. Mary Magdelenes of that period do have the same set of mouth, but the head is more likely that of some ascetic priest.” It appears as though the hands of the figure have been broken off, but it is suggested that the penitent was perhaps originally holding a heart or a vessel. It is understandable why this unusual stone caught the eye of W.J. Chambers, for in my opinion the carving does appear to be that of a female. The rounded face also appears to be hooded and is reminiscent of Lethbridge’s Gogmagog, but here the similarity ends. We will never know of Geoffrey Bushnell managed to take a photograph of the stone and sent it down to Lethbridge in Branscombe, but I am certain that if he did and Lethbridge agreed with my own conjecture, I am sure he would have been able to provide some alternative explanation for its being. NB. Click on the images for enlarged views. welbourn TEKH – Grantham – July 2007 Notes: 1. Since moving to Hole House in 1957, Tom had continued to defend his ‘discovery’ of three chalk-cut figures – one a goddess - on the banks of Wandlebury Camp – an Iron Age earthwork in the Gogmagog Hills to the south of Cambridge. The finding, unearthed by Tom in 1954, was considered, by many of his peers, to be a figment of his over-active imagination and that no substantial evidence had been produced to substantiate his findings. Disgusted by the lack of support and hostile reaction to his discovery, Tom and his wife Mina, left Cambridge and moved to Hole House in Branscombe, Devon in the autumn of 1957. 2. Letter from T.C. Lethbridge, Hole House Branscombe, Devon to C.W. Tebbutt dated; 17 August 1969. (Cambridge University Library: Add. 9258/31). 3. Many tales of Jan Tregeagle abound: He was reputed to be an evil 17th century lawyer who sold his soul to the Devil, as a result of which, his ghost was given endless tasks by clergymen in an attempt to save it. One of these tasks was to empty Dozmary Pool (said to be bottomless) with a leaky limpet shell. Another story has Tregeagle weaving a truss of sand bound with sand ropes in Gwenvor Cove. On completion, it was his objective to take them to Carn Olva. He completed the task on a very frosty night and when he poured water from a nearby brook onto the truss; it froze together and he was able to carry it to the top of Carn Olva. He returned to his debtor and started to torment him again, trying to tear him to pieces. Luckily the man held a baby in his arms and its innocence warded off the attack. Another priest was called and again Tregeagle was bound to weave a truss at Gwenvor, this time he was to go nowhere near any water. Defeated at last, Tregeagle remains in constant struggle with the sand and when a northerly wind comes to destroy his work, his roars can be heard across Whitesand Bay. It is clear that Tregeale represents an ancient presence and signifies mankind’s constant battle with nature on these bleak moors. 4. Kaolin Credits: Illustration Credit: Castle Hedingham figure drawn by John Buckle and taken from the guidebook of St. Nicholas' Church, Castle Hedingham. Castle Hedingham Carving Photo Credit: JON-AK rhys-lewis Dozmary Pool Photo Credit: TEMPLAR brighton Gogmagog Illustration taken from Gogmagog – the buried gods by T.C. Lethbridge |
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