Many years ago I went on a quest to find the Wishing Face - a little goblin’s head set into a flint wall opposite a St Margaret's Church in the village of Rottingdean, Sussex. You can see it in the photo at the top of this post. According to folklore, if you rub his nose and make a wish it will come true.
I originally learnt about the Wishing Face from the book Where Witchcraft Lives by Doreen Valiente.
Then last week, quite by chance, I think I found the Wishing Face’s twin – in the Battle Museum of Local History. In one of the cabinets was the little head pictured right. The label said it was an unidentified small face in clay, but I think it is so similar to the one in Rottingdean that it might have been made at around the same time – maybe even by the same artist.According to Doreen's book, the date "1306" used to be inscribed in the cement under the Wishing Face, but that wasn’t there any more when I visited in 2010. Also, his name seemed to have changed from the Wishing Face to the Wishing Stone in a description at the church.
I wonder if there are more little clay goblin faces to be found in Sussex?
You can view Where Witchcraft Lives on Amazon.
Links and previous related posts
http://www.battlelocalhistory.com/battle-museum.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/09/quest-to-find-wishing-face.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/doreen-valiente-books-now-available-on.html
2 comments:
Awesome, it would be interesting to start a nationwide search and see if anyone can spot any in their local communities or museums and see if they are spread further than we realie! I am sure Britain is full of green man carvings, and some more reknown than others!
Freya Rose
https://thegoddesscave.blogspot.co.uk/
I'm not sure that it is a green man, as there isn't any foliage. I'm not really sure how you would classify it.
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