Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any parish council, parochial church council, diocese, church, churches trust, woodcarving society, local history society, civic society, museum, heritage trust, heritage body, heritage funder, sponsor, school or community organisation.
It's a damp Friday morning at the end of October, and the little church at the edge of the village smells of beeswax and old stone. Along the nave run rows of plain oak benches, and at the end of each one, facing the aisle, is a thick carved board: some topped with a fleur-de-lis shape called a poppyhead, some covered in vines and leaves, and a few with strange little figures, a fox in a friar's hood, a man pulling a face, a mermaid holding a comb. A retired joiner called Alan is sitting on a folding stool by the fourth bench from the back, sketching a carved pelican in a notebook. Beside him, a volunteer called Priya is holding a torch at a low angle so the shadows deepen in the carving and the shapes jump out. A boy on a half-term visit with his grandmother has stopped at the fox. "Why is a fox in church?" he asks. "Because the carver had a sense of humour," Alan says, "and we think he might have been making fun of somebody." The boy grins. "Who?" Alan shrugs. "Five hundred years later, we're still arguing about it."
If you want to say thank you to people like Alan and Priya, this is a guide to doing it well, with or without a puzzle.
Who we mean
A bench end is the carved end panel of a church pew, the part you see from the aisle. In many English churches, especially in Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and East Anglia, bench ends from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries survive, carved with tracery, leaves, saints, animals, local tradespeople, coats of arms, the instruments of the Passion and sometimes figures that look very much like jokes. Many have been altered, moved or copied over the centuries, and some are Victorian work in a medieval style, which is part of the puzzle.
When we say bench end volunteers, we mean all of them: the recorders who number and describe every bench, the photographers and sketchers, the researchers who try to read the carvings, the church guides who show visitors their favourites, the cleaners and church watchers who wax and look after the wood under expert guidance, the fundraisers, the archive volunteers, the education volunteers, the churchwardens and church council members who look after the building, and the founders of the local group who first counted the foxes.
What they actually do
- Recorders number each bench end, note what it shows and its condition, and record any repairs, cracks or woodworm.
- Photographers and sketchers use low side light to bring out the carving, and sketch details a camera misses.
- Researchers compare carvings across churches, read old descriptions and try, carefully, to work out what each figure means.
- Church guides show visitors the fox, the mermaid or the carved tradesman, and explain what we know and what we're guessing.
- Cleaners and church watchers dust and wax the wood the way the church's advisers recommend, and report damage rather than fixing it themselves.
- Fundraisers raise money for repairs, beetle treatment and conservation by trained woodwork conservators.
- Archive volunteers keep the drawings, photographs, rubbings and old guidebooks safe and searchable.
- Education volunteers run animal trails for children, with a sheet of pictures to find rather than hands on the carving.
- Churchwardens and church council members look after the building and make sure any work on the benches has the right permissions.
- Founders and long-serving members remember who first made a list, who found the old guidebook and why the group began.
A little history, honestly told
Fixed seating in English parish churches spread in the later Middle Ages, and many carved bench ends date from roughly the fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth century. Local carvers often worked from patterns and their own imagination, and the same motifs turn up in neighbouring villages, sometimes suggesting the same workshop. Some carvings show religious scenes and symbols; others show everyday life, animals, plants and creatures from bestiaries and folk tales, whose meanings are now uncertain. Popular stories about a particular carving, that it mocks a local priest or records a real event, are sometimes true and sometimes only a good story, and careful guides say which is which.
Later centuries changed many churches. Box pews were installed, benches were cut down or moved, and in the nineteenth century many old benches were removed, restored or replaced, sometimes with fine new carving copied from the old. Dating a bench end is often a matter of skilled judgement, and the honest answer is sometimes "we're not sure".
An honest note about the past
Bench ends are cheerful, but they come from a world where seating in church often reflected rank: the best places for the wealthiest families, the back or nowhere for the poorest, and pew rents in later centuries that kept some people out altogether. The donors whose arms or initials appear on benches were usually well off. The carvings themselves sometimes mock outsiders and make fun of groups of people in ways that wouldn't be kind today. The best thank-yous don't pretend the past was simpler or kinder than it was; they thank people for paying careful attention to all of it.
Why a photo jigsaw can work
A thank-you that gives them a moment back can be lovely: the fox in its hood, a poppyhead worn glossy by centuries of hands, a whole row of bench ends marching down the nave, a volunteer sketching on a folding stool. A photo puzzle is a small way of doing that. They piece the moment together, slowly, and at the end your note appears. It suits a volunteer who loves detail, and people who spend their mornings drawing a carved pelican feather by feather are some of the most patient people anywhere.
Photos that work
- one carved bench end in low side light, so the carving stands out
- a close-up of a poppyhead or a little carved creature
- a whole row of bench ends down the aisle
- a volunteer sketching or recording, with their permission
- a child's drawing of their favourite carved animal, with the family's permission
- an old photograph or drawing beside the same bench end today, with permission
Getting the JPG right
Use a JPG, sharp and well lit. Be kind to the wood: don't rub, chalk or wet the carving to make it show, don't climb on benches for a better angle, and ask the church before taking photos, especially during services. A torch held low and to one side does more than any flash. Stand square to the carving so it isn't distorted, tap to focus on the face or the detail you love, and take a few close-ups too, because the grain and the worn edges are half the story.
Privacy and an optional PIN
Puzzlify puzzles are private links. You can add an optional PIN so only the person you send it to can open it. Photos aren't used to train AI and aren't shared with third parties.
Say it's from you
Put your name, or your family's or group's, in the note at the end so they know who sent it. A puzzle that ends with "from the Hendersons (and the boy who asked about the fox)" is a thank-you, not a mystery.
Piece counts
| Pieces | Photo idea | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | a child's drawing of a carved animal | a quick solve, or a child's thank-you |
| 48 | one bench end in clear side light | one clear subject, a relaxed solve |
| 80 | a poppyhead or carved creature up close | a strong subject with crisp detail |
| 130 | a row of bench ends down the aisle | a detailed image for a keen puzzler |
| 252 | the whole nave with every bench end in view | a long, slow solve for a long-serving recorder |
| 48 or 80 | an old drawing beside the same bench end today | a warm thank-you for the committee and the founders |
How to send it
Make the puzzle, write the note, publish the link, and send it by email or message, or print the link as a QR code inside a card. The recipient doesn't need an account or an app; it plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Note examples
- "Thank you for showing us the jokes in the woodwork."
- "Five hundred years of sermons, and you noticed the fox."
- "For every bench you've drawn on that folding stool. Thank you, Alan."
- "To Priya, who knows exactly where to hold the torch."
- "He still wants to know who the fox was making fun of."
- "From the whole group: thank you for sitting with us, and looking."
What it costs, plainly
The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so nothing arrives in the post. If a card and a few sentences feel like enough, they are.
Ideas that are not a puzzle
- a handwritten card, perhaps with a child's drawing of the fox or the mermaid
- a short message to the church council or local history group naming the volunteer, so it reaches them
- a donation towards woodwork repairs or the group's records in their name
- an offer of your own time: holding the torch, helping with the list or guiding on open days
- an old family photograph of the church interior, offered to the archive if they'd like it
- a good book on church woodcarving, or a day out together finding bench ends in another village
If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose a bench end, a carved creature, the row down the aisle or an old drawing, take it with the church's permission and without touching or marking the wood, keep children, graves and anyone's details out of the frame, pick a piece count that suits them, and write the note in your own words. You can make a free preview here and decide later whether to send it.
Whatever you send, the most important part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the person who sits in a cold nave with a sketchbook, who numbers every bench so nobody forgets one, and who tells a curious child that the carver was probably laughing too, one bench at a time, one jigsaw piece at a time.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, historical, art historical, religious, listed building, conservation, insurance, first aid, health and safety, safeguarding, copyright, trade mark, photography permission or employment advice. Check your own group's, church's and landowner's guidance on gifts, photos, the building, children and people's details.