Ralph of Shrewsbury’s Tomb at Wells Cathedral. Ralph of Shrewsbury was Chancellor of the University of Oxford and then bishop of Bath and Wells from 1329 to 1363. He took an active interest in completing the building of Wells cathedral, being known in particular for the construction of the nearby Vicars Close, the oldest residential street with original buildings surviving intact in Europe.
Ralph also supervised the building of a covered walkway from the Close to the body of the church, in order to shield the priesthood from contact with the temptations of nearby St Thomas Street, which was a notorious red-light district. Ralph also made considerable improvements to the nearby bishop’s palace, providing it with with a wall, moat and fortified gatehouse.
The most noticeable feature of Ralph’s alabaster effigy is the fact that is is almost entirely covered with carved initials, names, markings and sigils. The nose is missing, though its stump is smooth and worn, which may suggest that it was touched by generations of pilgrims who thought of the act as a charm for good luck.
Many of the names and dates are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, though it has been suggested that “the process began in the sixteenth century when the effigy, once railed and in front of the high altar, was placed unprotected in its current location” (in the north aisle outside the choir). This is attested by the fact that the graffiti lie mostly on the left side, the wall on the right side shielding the effigy from the practice.
The inscriptions on Ralph of Shrewsbury’s tomb do not contain any religious content, so their creation seems motivated by purely secular impulses. Much has been written of these inscriptions by Chris Daniell.
Given their clearly unhurried execution, it seems likely that the inscriptions were allowed to be carried out, or at least that a ‘blind eye’ was turned to the practice — perhaps in return for a ‘consideration’ to the church. (I’ve often wondered — what would happen if I was caught with a hammer and chisel, artfully inscribing my own initials?)