Poppyheads



//A- Wissett poppy head; B & C variations on the fleur-de-lys motive; D- 'Greenman' variant//

In early times the choir alone possessed seats, but gradually benches were introduced to the nave and during the 15th century became universal. This development of church furnishings provided work for local carpenters and carvers. 'Poppy-heads became a common motive for the finials to bench ends. There is no connection with the flowers or seed heads of the poppy and there 'Poppy-heads are finials to bench ends. A common assumption is that the name "poppy head" probably originating from the Latin word "puppis", a figure head, usually applied to a ship. Most poppy heads do not depict heads but seem to be a development in the round of the fleur-de-lys motive. On the rare occasions when a head is carved it is a variation on the 'Green Man' reign. There are fine examples in Chester and Wakefield cathedrals.

In Devon and Cornwall it is rarely met with (Ilslington, Devon. In Somerset it a flat-carved form is more common, while in the eastern counties thousands of 'in the round' examples remain.

Local woodcarvers have produced endless variations on the motive. A quite simple form of is seen in perfection at Trunch, Norfolk, and the very elaborate form when the poppyhead springs from a crocketed circle filled in with sculpture, at St Nicholas, Kings Lynn. Often the foliage contained a face (Cley, Norfolk), or the poppyhead consisted of figures or birds only (Thurston, Suffolk) or a figure standing on a dragon (Great Brincton, Northampton); occasionally the traditional form was departed from and the finial carved like a lemon in outline (Bury St Edmunds) or a diamond (Tirley, Glos.).

The religious significance is that, as a triad, (probably derived from the arrangement of petals in the iris), it stands as an icon for the Holy Trinity.

http://www.southsomersetmuseums.org.uk/benchends/cortonridgeworkshop.htm

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/fdl.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_lys