My next public lecture is at Script Haven in Worcester on Wednesday 15th October. It will be all about Protection Marks, please do come along 🙂 wegottickets.com/event/674251

Had a great day yesterday running tours of the marvellous apotropaic marks at Tewkesbury Abbey. Thanks to everyone who came along, you were all lovely. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Horse skulls were often concealed within buildings to ward off evil. At a pub called The Portway in Herefordshire 24 were screwed beneath the floor. Find out more in my book, Magical House Protection: The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft (Berghahn 2019) www.apotropaios.co.uk

For Heritage Open Days I am running a few free tours of apotropaic (protection) marks in Tewkesbury Abbey. They are happening at 9am, 2pm and 3pm. You need to book in advance as numbers are limited... www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk/heritage-ope...

More discoveries in Tewkesbury Abbey this morning. This time a circle for protection and a Marian mark invoking the presence of the Virgin Mary in the south transept roof void. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Upton Snodsbury church (Worcs) has some fine features which I've admired previously including these lovely big daisy-wheels. My friend Catherine Owers visited the tower recently (usually off limits) and spotted these brilliant faces and circles next to the ringing room. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Round trip to Edinburgh in one day complete... This was to check out a venue for Hidden Charms 6 which is happening in April 2027. Those who have signed up to the mailing list will be the first to receive details... www.apotropaios.co.uk

A bit of advance notice for my next talk at Script Haven, Worcester which is on Wednesday 15th October. Tickets here wegottickets.com/event/674251 See here for my other talks: www.apotropaios.co.uk/lectures.html

Visited Imber Church (The Churches Conservation Trust) today which is usually isolated in a military live fire exercise zone but not today. Big thanks to Tony Hack for the exclusive tour of the markings in the tower. There is a huge amount of interest to gawk at in this church. www.apotropaios.co.uk

The font at Kingham, Oxfordshire has what appears to be a large mesh mark on it. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Thanks to the @forteantimes.bsky.social and Rob Gandy for this nice feature in issue 461 about Hidden Charms 5 which took place at St Fagan's Museum, Cardiff back in April. The next one will be in Edinburgh in April 2027... 🙂 www.apotropaios.co.uk

Visited Rock Church (Worcs) on Monday. Fantastic Romanesque details, huge, Saxon altar stone, cool font and also has stocks and whipping post which were once positioned nearby. A lot of interesting features here... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Pinvin Church, Worcestershire. A small church close to where I live but lots of good marks in the porch. It also has some fantastic medieval wall paintings... www.apotropaios.co.uk

More newly discovered concentric circles at Tewkesbury Abbey today. You may need to zoom in a bit here... On one of the main columns at west end of the church. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Found this amazing set of concentric circles in the lantern of the tower at Tewkesbury Abbey today. Must have been difficult to carve. Very close by is one of the few deliberate burn marks in the building too. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Some years ago at an obscure antiques shop I purchased this unusual framed piece. The central section can spin. I figure this is a form of divination but I've not seen it's like anywhere else. www.apotropaios.co.uk

A few of my favourites from the south stairs at Tewkesbury Abbey (no public access)... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Signed copies of my book can be bought from my website if you are so inclined... www.apotropaios.co.uk/shop.html

A very decent collection of deliberate burn marks on this hearth lintel from a house on Pershore high street. Thanks again to Tracy for organising access to this one :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

Very pleased to have written the sixth chapter of Volume 3 of this important new series on the Cultural History of Magic by Bloomsbury - due out in September. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Some great marks found at Strensham Church today. A lovely carved daisy wheel, a tiny deliberate burn mark and several Marian marks. Thanks to Tracy for the tip about the daisy. www.apotropaios.co.uk

There is now a mailing for Apotropaios. If you want to be added to it and be the first to receive announcements about new events please scroll to the bottom of the home page www.apotropaios.co.uk :-)

This is Herbert, my antique horse skull. He wasn't deliberately concealed beneath a building, unlike the 24 which were found beneath the Portway pub at Staunton-on-Wye in Herefordshire to protect against evil. For more info... www.apotropaios.co.uk/horse-skulls...

Met up with my long time collaborator Dr Alan Massey today to discuss witch-bottles. A long overdue catch-up. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Last year I visited a lovely cottage in Alvington, Forest of Dean which had lots of deliberate burn marks on the hearth lintel and some excellent concentric circles on a ceiling beam. If you have marks or objects in your building please post photos :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

Every two years the Hidden Charms conference happens. So far we've had Norwich 2016, Salisbury 2018, Chester 2021, York 2023 and Cardiff 2025. The next one is due in April 2027, if you want to speak get in touch with your 150 word proposal :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

One of the first dried cats I was ever asked to look at was discovered in a thatch in Eckington, Worcestershire. The thatcher was certain the cat couldn't have got there on its own and it was squashed fairly flat. I explore the theories about dried cats in my book... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Had a great day running talks and tours at Spetchley Church today. Lots of lovely people and the weather was great :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

I'm leading some talks & tours at Spetchley Church (nr Worcester) tomorrow. Come along and see the marks at this fascinating church if you're free :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

If you want to read some interesting articles concerning magical house protection you can find the proceedings of the first three Hidden Charms conferences available on academia.edu for free: independent.academia.edu/BrianHoggard Hard copies of HC3 and HC4 are available from www.apotropaios.co.uk

Visited Moseley Old Hall today. Lots of deliberate burn marks, a few tiny deliberate circles and an amazing chair :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

Some shots of the incredible range of marks at Overbury Church. Includes multiple overlapping circles, one with a daisy-wheel within. Super-duper. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Check out our latest FREE #ChapterSampler, bringing 12 key #Archaeology extracts together: bit.ly/4mzuN5l These extracts' titles are also in a 25% off SALE with code ARCH25 until June 5th! Authors include @adreinhard.bsky.social, @folkmagicman.bsky.social, @graveyardarch.bsky.social & more!

You can find my book in all good bookstores and also www.apotropaios.co.uk :-)

On Weds 11th June I'll be leading some tours looking at the apotropaic and other marks at Spetchley Church, near Worcester. There will be tours at 11:00, 12:30 and 14:00. Please see the poster for more info 🙂

St Swithun's Church in Worcester has a nice daisy-wheel in the bell-ringing chamber (18th c plaster), more attempted ones in Pew 36 (18th c pews), and fairly recently one was found on the front cover of a 1539 Parish Register for the church. Magical protection in action... www.apotropaios.co.uk

A selection of the many marks here at Tewkesbury Abbey... 2/2 www.apotropaios.co.uk

A selection of the many marks here at Tewkesbury Abbey... 1/2 www.apotropaios.co.uk

Found another daisy-wheel at work the other day (Tewkesbury Abbey). It appears on an unused corbel near to the counter-balance weight for the font cover in the southern roof void. Look carefully, very hard to mark on this curved surface.

Website updated: www.apotropaios.co.uk

I decided to pay a little visit to the John Moore Museum in Tewkesbury the other day, mainly to look at the 1430s buildings. So many deliberate burn marks throughout... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Today we also visited Aston Hall where there certainly were a few interesting marks close to the kitchens and servant's quarters. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Paid a visit to Selly Manor in Birmingham today. Such a charming building. Very few marks in evidence (except for the chest) probably due to it having been moved to it's current location by the Cadbury family. www.apotropaios.co.uk

The Proceedings of Hidden Charms 3 are now available to download for free on Academia via the link below. This daisy wheel appears on a dowry chest from Pakistan in my collection. www.academia.edu/128791790/Hi...

A lovely example of a daisy-wheel on the shield of a knight from Dore Abbey, Herefordshire - which someone has [with great genius] turned into the middle letter of a name at some point. www.apotropaios.co.uk

Hi everyone. Happy to announce that the Proceedings of Hidden Charms 3 are now available via Academia.edu via this link: www.academia.edu/128791790/Hi... Or you can order a hard copy from www.apotropaios.co.uk

Had a great day running Hidden Charms 5 in Cardiff today. Met lots of lovely people and this beast right at the end. Fabulous :-) www.apotropaios.co.uk

Hidden Charms 5 is happening in Cardiff tomorrow :-) Looking forward to seeing everyone there. www.apotropaios.co.uk

This time next week we will be in the middle of Hidden Charms 5 which is happening at St Fagan's in Cardiff. Here's a little reminder of HC4 in York (2023). Tickets will be available until it starts... www.apotropaios.co.uk

Two weeks today it will be time for Hidden Charms 5 at St Fagan's in Cardiff. Tickets have sold very well but there are still a few left if anyone fancies a fascinating day out exploring magical house protection in various forms. Full details at www.apotropaios.co.uk