Oxford Gargoyles and Grotesques

    A horde of animals, monsters and demons cling to the roofs and walls of buildings in Oxford. They glare, grimace and grin like uneasy spirits trapped forever in stone.

     Medieval and modern stonemasons used imagination and humour in creating these amazing stone carvings whose function is to channel water from the gutter of a building and spew it out through their mouth.   

    But even nowadays ramblers can’t help feeling a bit weird walking round the streets of Oxford under the distorted faces and twisted bodies of these fascinating creatures. Somehow they know they are up there, frozen, keeping an eye on everything they do....