The stolen stones of the Victoria Lines

Abstract

There may be many who think that the vandalism and spoliation of public buildings and monuments is a modern phenomenon, a product of our own times and of our urban social woes. However, a closer look at various historic buildings and structures would show that this is a mistaken perception for, even in the past, buildings were regularly subjected to a host of offensive intrusions. Indeed, historical records, as well as many of the monuments themselves, reveal how many buildings suffered various forms of physical abuse and 'vandalism' throughout the centuries. Graffiti, for one, were rampant. Images of galleys, sailing ships of the line, geometric shapes and personal names were wantonly carved out or scratched deep into the exterior walls of numerous churches, chapels, palaces and ramparts. The soft Globigerina limestone walls proved too tempting a canvas for superstitious sailors and bored soldiers on sentry duty. Although nowadays many of these carved images are considered worthy of ethnographic and anthropologic study (and rightly so), at the time when they were scratched out they were little more than a nuisance that only served to deface the facades and walls of the fine architecture of buildings, not much unlike the artwork produced by the spray cans of our own time