An example might be found at the corner of a church tower, along the coping ridge below any castellations. Often there are carvings on each corner, yet the roof may only drain in one direction and so there might be three hunky punks and one true gargoyle. Hunky punks are often short squatting figures typical of those found in some Somerset churches, however hunky punks come in many shapes and sizes mostly in middle to late medieval building onwards. Some theories consider that the balance of good and evil created in church design to remind worshippers that the narrow path they tread was present in everything.
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The church is dedicated to All Saints, It has a three-stage tower. On the stonework are hunky punks representing animals. Inside the church is a 15th-century font.
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It has a number of interesting gargoyles known locally as 'hunky punks'. The portcullis in the stonework above the battlements is from the coat of arms of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby who was Lord of the Manor of Eastover in the Parish of Langport. Two of the hunky punks are believed to represent Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry VII of England. The East window of the chancel contains a set of late 15th century glass depicting various saints, appropriate to the dedication "All Saints".
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Other grotesques, such as gargoyles and hunky punks, were frequently part of church decorations all over Europe. It is commonly said that their purpose was to keep evil spirits away (see apotropaic magic). They often are positioned over doors or windows, presumably to protect these openings.
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The decorative "hunky punks" are perched high on the corners. There may be so named because the carvings are squatting on their hunkers – as in one hunkers i.e. squatting and punch meaning short and thick. They actually serve no function unlike gargoyles which carry off water.
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The altarpiece of the Belen Church in Havana was built by Talleres de Arte in 1915. This Jesuit church is one of the only Gothic Revival buildings in Cuba. The altarpiece is also Gothic, with pinnacles, elaborate tracery and tiny hunky punks. The central image is a large statue of the Sacred Heart.
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The tower dates from about 1500, however the south porch and vestry are much more recent, dating from 1841. The crenellated three-stage tower has merlons pierced with trefoil headed arches set on a quatrefoil pierced parapet. On the stonework are hunky punks which show heraldic features. St Peter's has six bells.
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The tower, which dates from around 1462, has a ring of six bells, the tenor weighing . On the corner plates of the tower are hunky punks in the shape of daemonic animals. Internally, the chancel has a ceiled wagon-roof, with moulded ribs and plaster panels. The tower exhibits the tracery typical of Somerset churches.
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The paired two-light bell-chamber windows have Somerset tracery flanked by attached shafts and pinnacles, with quatrefoil grilles. There are similar single windows on the stage below. On the stonework are hunky punks representing dragons with the one on the left side of the west face being a mixture between a Basilisk or Cockatrice and a Griffin.
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The minster church has a highly decorated tower which, at high, was described by Nickolaus Pevsner as one of the finest towers in the county. The tower was built around 1508. It contains a peal of six bells, and a clock built in Bridgwater in 1807. On the stonework are hunky punks in the shape of animals.
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The four-stage tower, which dates from around 1470, has an embattled parapet with quatrefoil arcading, and set-back buttresses which terminate in pinnacles on the bell-chamber stage. There are six bells in the tower. On the corners of the tower are hunky punks representing dragons. Restoration during the 1930s of the roof was funded by public subscription and carried out by W. D. Caroe.
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The work included replacing the pinnacles and sections of the pierced parapet. On the stonework are hunky punks which have been severely damaged by the weather. The whole church has been renovated many times with a major restoration being undertaken in the 1860s to plans by Charles Knowles, with further repairs in 1908. The parish is part of the benefice of Middlezoy and Othery and Moorlinch with Stawell and Sutton Mallet, within the Glastonbury deanery.
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Another well-known example may be seen at Kilpeck in Herefordshire, England. Such carvings are said to ward off death and evil.Andersen, Jorgen The Witch on the Wall (1977) Rosenkilde & Bagger Weir, Anthony & Jerman, James Images of Lust: Sexual Carvings on Medieval Churches, London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1986 Other grotesques, such as gargoyles and hunky punks, were frequently part of church decorations all over Europe. It is commonly said that their purpose was to keep evil spirits away through the use of apotropaic magic.
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All Saints' church The main street leads up a slope from the river to the fine Perpendicular church of All Saints, which is a Grade I listed building. The square tower (with its octagonal stair turret), which is in three stages, dates from the 15th century but the top section was rebuilt in 1833. It has a number of interesting gargoyles known locally as ‘hunky punks’. The East window of the chancel contains a set of late 15th century glass depicting various saints, appropriate to the dedication "All Saints".
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The Church of St Mary in Kingston St Mary on the Quantock Hills dates from the 13th century but the tower is from the early 16th century and was reroofed in 1952, with further restoration 1976–8. It is a 3-stage crenellated tower, with crocketed pinnacles with bracketed pinnacles set at angles, decorative pierced merlons, and set back buttresses crowned with pinnacles. The decorative "hunky-punks" are perched high on the corners. There may be so named because the carvings are hunkering (squatting) and punch (short and thick).
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Tower, St Mary's Church, Yarlington 15th century tower with crocket pinnacles and hunky punks on the corners Hunky punk is Somerset (in the West Country of England) dialect for grotesque carvings on the side of buildings, especially Late Gothic churches. Such features are especially numerous in Somerset. Though similar in appearance to a gargoyle, a hunky punk is an architectural feature that is purely decorative, with no other functional purpose (often referred to as a grotesque). Strictly a gargoyle is not a hunky punk because it serves to drain water off the roof through its mouth.
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The Church of St Maryin Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England, dates from the 14th and 15th centuries and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. In 1860–62 the church was extended by one bay and a vestry, by Edward Jeboult of Taunton, added. The tower, which was built around 1497, has pierced tracery battlements, pinnacles, set back buttresses terminating in pinnacles at the bell-storey, and pinnacles on the buttresses at each stage. On the stonework are hunky punks which have been severely damaged by the weather, however one appears to represent a Sea serpent.
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The buttresses, which finish in the belfry stage, support small detached shafts which rise upwards to form the outside subsidiary pinnacles of each corner cluster. On the stonework are hunky punks of dogs. The chrcuh was restored in the 19th century with extra bays being added to the north and south aisles by George Gilbert Scott in 1867. The church includes a window dedicated to the memory of Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard (1847–1897) who was an English soldier who won the Victoria Cross for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879.
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A 12th-century sheela na gig on the church at Kilpeck, Herefordshire People believed that the doorways and windows of buildings were particularly vulnerable to the entry or passage of evil. On churches and castles, gargoyles or other grotesque faces and figures such as sheela na gigs and hunky punks were carved to frighten away witches and other malign influences. Figures may also have been carved at fireplaces or chimneys; in some cases, simple geometric or letter carvings were used for these. When a wooden post was used to support a chimney opening, this was often an easier material for amateur carving.
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The very large corner pinnacles have attached secondary pinnacles, and intermediate pinnacles to each side. The crocketted niches to each face of tower have surviving medieval figures, to west the risen Christ stepping from His sarcophagus, the Blessed Virgin with Bambino, St Peter and St Paul; to south St George, St Catherine, St Margaret; to east St John Baptist, St Clement; to north St Michael. The wealth of architectural detail and sculpture has required specific approaches to the methodology of repair and protection using lime-based materials. On the stonework are hunky punks which have been severely damaged by the weather, however one appears to be a person playing bagpipes.
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The crocketted niches to each face of tower have surviving medieval figures, to west the risen Christ stepping from His sarcophagus, the Blessed Virgin with Bambino, St Peter and St Paul; to south St George, St Catherine, St Margaret; to east St John Baptist, St Clement; to north St Michael. The wealth of architectural detail and sculpture has required specific approaches to the methodology of repair and protection using lime-based materials. The church tower has eight hunky punks depicting a person playing the bagpipes, an oriental lion dog, a goat, a dragon, a Chinese dragon, a primitive dragon, a winged lion and a lion.St Mary the Virgin, Isle Abbots: Church Guide published by Isle Abbots PCC, no date The church also houses a barrel organ made by Henry Bryceson in about 1835.
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