This is an example of the lettering I referred to in my previous blog about flint lettering in Woodbridge – the image below is of the outer wall of Holy Trinity church, Blythburgh. It’s a fantastic church, well worth a visit if you’re in Suffolk.
here is another image taken from Holy Trinity’s website (thanks to them) and some notes to help to explain what the lettering may mean:
At the east end, a curious series of initials in Lombardic script stretch across the outer chancel wall. You can see an image of this in the left hand column. It reads A-N-JS-B-S-T-M-S-A-H-K-R. This probably stands for Ad Nomina JesuS, Beati Sanctae Trinitas, Maria Sanctorem Anne Honorem Katherine Reconstructus (‘In the name of the blessed Jesus, the Holy Trinity, and in honour of holy Mary, Anne and Katherine, this was rebuilt’). A fanciful theory is that they are the initials of the wives of the donors. However, note the symbol of the Trinity in the T stone, and I think this is a clue to the whole piece.
