The Croft-on-Tees Sheela Na Gig

The Croft on Tees Sheela resides in the Church of St Peter on the banks of the river Tees.

The church's main claim to fame is that Lewis Caroll's father was the rector there while Lewis was growing up. Both his mother and father are buried in the church yard. The church also has a carving of a grinning cats head which from some leaflets in the church is supposed to be the original Cheshire cat. (See below)

The Sheela

For some reason I spent a long time looking for this sheela despite the fact it is about 2 ft high 1 and half ft wide and right next to the main door. If my friend hadn't pointed it out I would have walked right past it. As you can see from the pictures it's quite large, it's located to the left of the main at about head height. Its hard to tell if the sheela was originally moved from somewhere else because the pointing on the walls looks very recent. The stone does seem to fit very well into the door frame though so it may well be in situ. The carving is quite crude and differs from the rest of the carving in the church quite considerably. The carving has a small deeply incised slit for a vagina which is quite narrow and not immediately obvious. The carving has a celtic feel to it with the oval head and crude eyes but as to whether it is or not remains to be seen. There is however the remains of a saxon cross in the church which would seem to indicate that the site has had religious connections for quite some time. No mention is made of the sheela in the documentation in the church.

The Cheshire Cat

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