Every 24-hour day of a medieval monk’s life was strictly divided between work and prayer, and he often had to stand for long periods. Misericords were named from the Latin miserere, ‘to have pity’. They were tip-up seats that allowed monks to perch rather than stand during long services.

Misericords were carved into an amazing array of subjects, but the most surprising thing is how rarely they were religious. Humorous depictions of animals were popular, like the cat with a mouse in its mouth, or the musical dogs and pigs playing pipes, from Winchester Cathedral (about AD 1308-10). Homely details of peasant life, fables, romances as well as all kinds of grotesque monsters are also shown. The monsters are very similar to the ‘drolleries’ – fantastical or humorous creatures of all kinds – found crammed into the margins of medieval English illuminated manuscripts.

The names of the individual craftsmen who made the misericords are not known, but there must have been workshops and pattern books to have produced such large numbers of carvings.