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Hailes Church: South Wall of Nave Bears Non-Religious Subject: Hunt

South Wall of Nave Bears Non-Religious Subject: Hunt

The south wall of the nave bears a non-religious subject: the hunt. A huntsman with a horn to his mouth carries a shield decorated with horns and sea urchins. Greyhounds race towards a hare crouched beneath the bare branches of a tree. The huntsman might represent Sampson the Venour, who served Edward I and was made a pensioner of Hailes Abbey by Edward II, or Adam le Hunte, who gave land to the abbey under Edward II.

Credit: Holly Hayes