Carpenter’s 800-year-old X-rated carving found in church ceiling

Kane Khanh | Archeaology
August 20, 2023

A carpenter who hid a rude carving in a church roof has been caught out 800 years later.

The work had been hidden from the public until the church built a new cafe, exposing the funny piece of woodwork.

Church-goers at All Saints Church in Hereford were shocked when a photo of the man exposing himself in the ceiling went viral online.

Work is reported to have begun on the church roof in around 1200AD and it was completed around 1330.

But not until a new gallery with a cafe was built in the 1990s was he originally uncovered.

 

The rude carving is believed to have been hidden for 800 years. Picture: Reddit

The rude carving is believed to have been hidden for 800 years. Picture: Reddit

Parishioners at the church in Hereford were shocked by the discovery. Picture: Facebook/All Saints Church

Parishioners at the church in Hereford were shocked by the discovery. Picture: Facebook/All Saints Church

It is believed the reclining nude man, nicknamed Seamus O’Toole, had been carved into the rafters in the 15th century.

The post on Reddit racked up thousands of comments as people joked it was good to see that trolling wasn’t anything new.

One person said: “He probably sat in the church, looking up at, knowing no one else knew it was there, tittering to himself.”

 

The modern cafe was built in the 90s and had churchgoers in stitches. Picture: Facebook/All Saints Church

The modern cafe was built in the 90s and had churchgoers in stitches. Picture: Facebook/All Saints Church

A second wrote: “Words can’t describe how much I love this.”

And someone else replied: “Never in a million years did the person who made this think thousands of people around the world would see it.”