Pendant to hood-moulding of arch in present east wall of nave, on the west face of the wall to the north of the blocked archway.

In situ. Noted in present position by Haigh (1846, 17) and Butterworth (1862, 95) and visible in a drawing made during the restoration of 1861–2 (Strickland 1862).

St Mary

The general condition of the stone is good, although there is a crack on the inner face at the level of the frontal crest that has been pointed with grey cement. Some loss of stone has also occurred on protruding features, in particular the in-turning tips of the ears. Both sides of the head have been stained by water infiltration in the past, possibly after the removal of layers of limewash in the nineteenth century, but more probably in the fifteenth or early sixteenth century at a time when the apse was ruinous and the arch was perhaps still open. Much of the animal head's original ninth-century painted decoration survives, although the removal of the limewash significantly damaged many areas. However, unlike the animal head on the south side of the chancel arch (Deerhurst (St Mary) 19), enough of the paint remains in situ to allow not just detailed analysis to be carried out but also a full reconstruction of the decorative scheme (Howe 2006a, 47–8; Gem et al. 2008, 130–6).

Painted animal-head label stop to the north side of the blocked chancel arch, carved as one with the first section of the hood-moulding which is 14 cm (5.5 in) wide and 13 cm (5.1 in) deep. The head is twisted slightly to the south, continuing and slightly accentuating the general curvature of the hood-moulding. The top of the creature's head is broad and quite long, the forehead tapering between the eyes to form the bridge of a squarish muzzle. The jaws are open and full of teeth. There is a faint, incised setting-out line down the central element of the crest or mane. The essential structure of the head was blocked out, like the paired animal head to the south of the arch (Deerhurst St Mary 19), but (unlike the southern head) the ears, eyes and nostrils together with the crown of the head were then further accentuated by being carved more deeply. The muzzle curves up from the flaring, hollowed-out nostrils to well-defined brow ridges over the eyes. Above the brow ridges the forehead is divided in two by a vertical groove that continues the line of, but does not quite meet, the setting-out line observed on the animal's crest. The eyes are long, rather almond-shaped, V-profile cuts that are drawn out backwards into narrow points where they curve around the sides of the head. The pupils are circular and deeply cut with sharp, straight-sides. The teeth and huge fangs are carved in low relief on the sides of the jaws, but the open mouth (face F) is flat with no relief carving at all. The creature's ears lie flat on the top of the head with their in-curling tips across the lower part of the crest or mane. The overall shape of the ears is rounded at the bottom and sharply pointed at the top. The inside of each ear is split into two compartments, a circular, concave lower area with a sub-triangular, V-profile area above. The crest or mane on the top of the head consists of three flat elements divided by incised lines. The central tapering, round-topped element is flanked by two larger, folded-over, comma shapes. Unlike the two animal heads on the western door (Deerhurst St Mary 13 and 14), the crest or mane is not carried back along the sides of the creature's head. Both side faces (faces B and D) of this animal head are dominated by the creature's open jaws and by the spiral terminals to the brow ridges.

The concentric lines and enhancement of details that are incised on the faces of four of the other animal heads at Deerhurst (nos. 13, 14, 16, 17) are not incised on this head but instead they are painted in beautifully controlled red lines. Three concentric lines sweep across the muzzle, bending downwards between the creature's nostrils. The eyes and ears are outlined in red line and the brow ridges are accentuated with sweeping red line (colour frontispiece, Plate 1). On both sides of the creature's head the brow ridge and the back of the eye are drawn out into an exceptionally large, double-line spiral terminal, while the jaw is outlined with a double red line. The medium used is iron oxide red, and this was also used to paint the inside of the open jaws and the nostrils, pupils and ears. An overall wash of iron oxide yellow was then applied to the head, over a carbonate white ground in some areas such as the eyes. The centres of the pupils of the eyes were further enhanced with charcoal black. (See Chapter X for a detailed summary of the Deerhurst polychrome, and Gem et al. 2008 for a fuller analysis.)

The survival of a significant amount of the original ninth-century scheme of painting on this animal head offers a very rare opportunity to appreciate just how dramatic much Anglo-Saxon carving must have been. With the exception of the three elements of the crest or mane, which on this head are large and rather crude, the overall decorative repertoire is very similar to most of the other animal heads from this church (see Deerhurst St Mary 13 for a discussion of the group of six animal heads: nos. 13–14, 16–19). Enough survives of the painted scheme to permit accurate frontal and side view reconstructions to be made (faces A and B), while the recording of surviving areas of paint on the voussoirs and hood-moulding of the chancel arch (first noted by Bagshaw in 2002 (Bagshaw et al. 2006, 85)), together with newly discovered fragments of a painted spiral volute plant-scroll on the voussoirs, has enabled a reconstruction of the whole of the chancel arch scheme to be attempted (Gem et al. 2008, 130–9, figs. 24–6, 42–5).

First half ninth century

Haigh 1846, 17; Butterworth 1862, 95; Strickland 1862; Brown 1925, 205–6, 217, fig. 82; Clapham 1930, 141; Casson 1933, 32; Rivoira 1933, 182, 184; Fisher 1959, 88, 93, pl. 21a; Fisher 1962, 175, 177, 183–4, pl. 77; Wilson 1964, 15, 34; Taylor and Taylor 1965, I, 199; Taylor and Taylor 1966, 33–5, 50; Gilbert 1969, 6, fig. 7; Verey 1970b, 167–8; Gem 1993, 51, pl. VIIId; Rahtz et al. 1997, 146, no. 10 in Table VIII; Verey and Brooks 2002, 331; Bailey 2005, 1–7; Bagshaw et al. 2006, 85; Howe 2006a, 47–8; Gem et al. 2008, 111, 114–18, 126–9, 133, 154, figs. 7–10, 25, 29, 32–5, 42–4