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, cathedral, church, churches trust, woodcarving or furniture history society, conservation studio, local history society, archive, civic society, heritage trust, heritage body, heritage funder, sponsor, school or community organisation.
It's a grey Wednesday afternoon in late October, and the choir of an old market-town church is empty apart from two volunteers kneeling on cushions in front of the stalls. One is a retired joiner called Ken, who lifts each hinged seat with great care and holds it up. The other is a librarian called Priya, who shines a small torch underneath and reads out what she sees while she writes. "Number seven. A man with his cheeks puffed out, blowing... bellows? No, a horn. Supporters either side, leaves. Right-hand one damaged." Ken leans over to look. "That's a pig playing the bagpipes," he says. Priya looks again, laughs, and crosses out "horn". Then she writes "pig with bagpipes (probably)" and they move on to number eight.
If you want to say thank you to people like Ken and Priya, this is a guide to doing it well, with or without a puzzle.
Who we mean
A misericord is a small carved ledge on the underside of a hinged seat in the choir stalls of some old churches and cathedrals. When the seat is tipped up, the ledge gave a little support to someone standing through long services. Many were carved with scenes that have nothing obviously religious about them: animals, monsters, foliage, everyday work, jokes. Recording them, describing them and helping visitors see them is often the work of a small, quiet team:
- the volunteers who survey the stalls seat by seat, noting each carving and its condition
- photographers who light and photograph each misericord, often lying awkwardly on a cold floor
- researchers who compare the carvings with published surveys, old guides, archive notes and books
- people who write up the descriptions for a guide sheet, a display, a church website or a talk
- the guides and stewards who lift the seats for visitors when it's allowed and explain what's carved there
- volunteers who keep an eye on the stalls and report loose hinges, woodworm signs or damage to the church
- the churchwardens and the parochial church council who agree how the stalls are looked after and shown
Why a thank-you matters here
Misericords are easy to miss: the seats are usually folded down, many churches rope off the choir, and the carvings are small, dark and worn. Without people who record them, many visitors would walk straight past a six-hundred-year-old joke. The work is slow, physical and often unglamorous: kneeling, squinting, checking one detail in three books, writing "probably" again and again. The people doing it rarely meet the visitors who later enjoy the guide or the photos, and they almost never hear what anyone thought of it.
A little honest background
It helps to get the basics right in a note, because many misericord recorders know their stalls in great detail, and some are careful scholars.
Much about misericords is uncertain. Dates are usually estimated from the style of the carving and the stalls rather than from documents, and stalls were sometimes moved between churches, rearranged, restored or partly replaced, especially in the nineteenth century, so a single set can mix old and newer work. What a carving shows is often debated too: a figure might be a fable, a proverb, a saint's story, a joke or something nobody can now explain. Good recorders often write "possibly", "is thought to show" or "interpretation uncertain", and that honesty is part of what makes their work trustworthy. The carvers' names are almost always unknown.
If you're not sure how old the stalls are, what a scene means or how long the survey took, say so. "I've no idea what that fox is up to, but I'm so glad you told us to look" is better than a confident guess.
Also important: misericords are fragile, old and often part of a listed building. Don't lift seats yourself unless the church says you may, never lean on, sit on or climb the stalls, and never touch the carvings or rub them. Their photographs and descriptions may also be protected by copyright, so ask before sharing someone else's images or text.
What makes a good photo
- a single misericord lit gently from the side, with the seat held up by a steward who has agreed
- a volunteer's torch and notebook resting on the stall beside the carving they've just described
- the row of choir stalls from the chancel step, seats down, with the light coming through the windows
- the recorder's sketch of a carving next to the carving itself, if the church allows it to be lifted
- a close-up of a detail they love: a green man's leaves, a dragon's tail, a cook stirring a pot
- the recording team in the choir with their finished survey, if everyone has agreed
Getting the JPG right
Use a JPG, sharp and well lit. Misericords sit low and in shadow, so use soft side light, such as a small torch held at an angle by someone else, rather than a flash, which flattens the carving, glares on varnish and isn't welcome in every church. Hold the phone steady, tap to focus on the carving, and don't get down in a way that means leaning on the stalls. Ask the church before taking photos, especially during a service, a wedding, a funeral or when people are praying, and keep visitors, children and anyone's personal details out of the frame unless they and their families have agreed. Avoid photographing readable names on recent memorials or anything left in the stalls, such as music folders or personal belongings.
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, group's or class's, in the note at the end so they know who sent it. A puzzle that ends with "from the family who spent twenty minutes on the floor finding the pig with the bagpipes because of your guide" is a thank-you, not a mystery.
Piece counts
| Pieces | Photo idea | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | a single cheerful animal carving, close up | a quick solve, or a child's thank-you |
| 48 | a green man's face framed by carved leaves | one clear subject, a relaxed solve |
| 80 | the torch and notebook beside the carving on the stall | a strong subject with crisp detail |
| 130 | one whole misericord with both side carvings | a detailed image for a keen puzzler |
| 252 | the full row of choir stalls from the chancel step | a long, slow solve for a long-serving recorder |
| 48 or 80 | an old photo of a carving beside the same one today | a warm thank-you for the people who recorded it |
Dark carved wood looks lovely but can make fiddly puzzles, because many pieces look alike; a 252-piece row of brown stalls on a phone screen can be hard work, so choose 24 or 48 for children or for a quick smile, and save the bigger counts for a tablet or a computer.
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. The note appears when the last piece clicks into place.
Note examples
- "Thank you for the misericord guide. We'd been coming to this church for years and never once looked under a seat."
- "To Priya: 'pig with bagpipes (probably)' is my favourite sentence in any church guide. Thank you."
- "Ken, thank you for lifting every seat so gently. Six hundred years, and still in your safe hands."
- "From Year 3: thank you for showing us the dragon. We drew it at school and Amir gave it a name."
- "Grandad was a carpenter. Your photos made him laugh at a carver's joke from the 1400s. Thank you."
- "From the bell ringers: thank you for the talk. We've walked past those stalls every Sunday and had no idea."
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 note in the visitors' book saying which carving you found because of their work
- a short letter to the parish magazine or newsletter naming the recorders, so the thanks reaches them
- a donation to the church's fabric fund, given in their honour, with a note saying why
- coming along to a talk they give, and bringing someone who's never looked under a seat
- an offer of your own time: stewarding on an open day, proofreading the guide, or typing up the survey notes
- a framed print of their favourite carving, from a photo taken with the church's permission
Where Puzzlify fits
Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw that you send as a link. It isn't a printed puzzle, and it isn't a public puzzle board: only the people you send it to can open it. It's one option among many, and it works best when the photo means something to the person receiving it.
If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose a single carving lit from the side, the torch and notebook beside it, the row of stalls from the chancel step or an old photo next to today's view, take it with the church's permission and outside services, never lift seats yourself or touch the carvings, keep recent memorial names, children and people'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 knelt on a cold choir floor with a torch, crossing out "horn" and writing "pig with bagpipes (probably)", so that one day a stranger would lift a seat and laugh at the same joke a carver made six centuries ago.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, historical, religious, listed building, conservation, woodcarving, archive, insurance, health and safety, safeguarding, copyright, photography permission or employment advice. Check your own group's, church's and parish's guidance on gifts, photos, the stalls, memorials, children and people's details.