Martham's Mystery Mariner
The Martham Local History Group created this archive as part of the project managed by the Norfolk Record Office — the Skills, Support and Sustainability (CASSAS) project, funded by the National Lottery. MLHG is proud to be associated with this ground-breaking project.
Cogs were made of oak planks, had one mast and a square-rigged single sail hanging from one yard. The following is a description of the graffiti and something of its significance, written by Ann Meakin, our MLHG President.
Looking around St Mary's — our ancient parish church — you may have noticed a ship scratched on one of the pillars. How did it come to be there? What does it mean? Why is it there? When you look closely you can see that it is very beautifully drawn by an artist with a very good knowledge of sailing ships and how they work. A close inspection reveals that there is lime-wash in the scratched outline, and that it therefore dates from before the Reformation in the 16th century, when much that was decorative was obliterated with lime wash. The lime-wash either wore off or was removed in a later century.
It is of the type of ship called a 'cog', built in the 1300s, 1400s and 1500s as a sea-going coastal trading vessel. You can distinguish the hull with a high peak at the prow, the tall mast, the sails and rigging, and even the crow's nest.
But why is it there? Before the days of road, rail and air transport, everything was carried by water, and even the narrowest navigable rivers were used by small boats. Sea-going transport was vital and almost every place near the sea had its harbour or jetty from the beach. But seafarers had a very risky job — they were in constant danger from weather, tides, hidden sandbanks and rocks, and even pirates and warfare. Seafaring took men away from their homes for months, sometimes years on end, and they needed to know that people remembered them and prayed for them.
Nowadays we think constantly of those near and dear to us and have photographs and mementoes to remind us. Many centuries ago they did not have these things. Being out of sight meant that sailors could be out of mind too, but they desperately needed to feel that they were not forgotten. The symbol of a ship on a church pillar would remind people to pray for and remember before God those of their community who were seafarers. Sometimes a wealthy merchant ship-owner would have commissioned a skilled artist to make an engraving of his ship.
At places like Blakeney, Wiveton and Cley, which were important ports in the Middle Ages, you can see several ships scratched on pillars in the churches — but I have not seen one that is as large or as finely crafted as ours at Martham.
My guess is that ours was commissioned by a wealthy local merchant ship-owner about 600 years ago. But who was he? We have considerable information about Martham people of the past from the vast collection of Wills in the Norfolk Record Office. Not all of them have been read, so perhaps someone doing research will one day discover the name of our mystery mariner.