Ugly Mugs

Look out! Look up! They wait on walls, rest on roofs and blend into buttresses - but can you see them? The county of Gloucestershire has lots of gargoyles and grotesques and this resource tells you all about them!

Glance up at many churches and older buildings in Gloucestershire and the chances are that there will be something looking down at you. What is it? A human? An animal? A monster? Often it is a mix of all three but whatever it is, there will always be something intriguing about it. For centuries, the haunting, mysterious silhouettes of gargoyles and grotesques have been clinging to their lofty perches along the edges and ledges of buildings "yelling their soundless blasphemies and derisions to the wind" and arousing a mix of emotions from those below looking up.