The figure-sculpture of Haughmond Abbey

Haughmond Abbey, an Augustinian house just outside Shrewsbury, offers a modest but positive contribution to the history of English Gothic figure-sculpture. While most of the church and claustral complex has been destroyed, archaeology has recovered several valuable sculptural fragments, including a Virgin and Child image made c. 1200 of unusual purpose and form. There are also ten stone sculptures of saints remaining in situ on the jambs of a processional doorway that led into the nave from the north cloister walk and the chapter-house façade. These jamb-sculptures, carved in the 14th century, are peculiar for having been sculpted in relief onto existing Romanesque quoins, a method (and economy) which is hard to parallel. Most of this sculpture has been noticed in previous publications, and the essay offered here rehearses the findings of this work where necessary. But it tries to go beyond received ideas by identifying aspects of the sculpture and its context that will support further attention in light of available evidence.