The idea behind the title of this article stems from an age where the vast majority of people walking down the street are engrossed in their personal devices, whether it is for work, business or pleasure. If only they directed their gaze to the upper levels of our older buildings, what a visual feast they would enjoy.

The old French ‘gargouille’ meant ‘throat’; the Low Latin ‘gargula’ is a gullet and in English we have the very expressive‘gargle’. A gargoyle, then, is simply an architectural throat. The essential part is not its grotesque carving as is sometimessupposed, but its capacity to act as a throat, that is, to carry rain-water away from the roof gutters of a building. Utility is its first purpose; decoration comes second.

If we were asked “When is a gargoyle not a gargoyle?” our answer would be:
“When no water runs out of it”.

In the Middle Ages, churches used gargoyles as a reminder that the devil lurks outside, contrasting with the cathedral’s interior, where redemption takes place. This was a form of marketing to an illiterate public among whom superstitions were common. Stonemasons had free choice as to what their gargoyles should depict or who they should resemble. It is an interesting fact that no two gargoyles are exactly the same.

Since ancient times, people have been adorning buildings with statues and symbols. The Egyptians and Greeks, for example, depicted their own deities. The mythical creatures on buildings are often a chimera, (which is a lion, serpent, goat combination) or a gryphon, which is a lion body and head with the wings of an eagle.

Dragons were used to symbolise the devil or demons, and became popular in Edwardian architecture as a decorative element. They remain popular as a made-to-order stylish roof feature.
Gargoyles, grotesques and masks have continued through history simply for decorative purposes.

Next time you are visiting Adelaide,Auckland, Melbourne or Sydney, cast your eyes upwards and explore for yourself the carvings of the past.

• References
  http://www.medieval-life-and-times.
  info/medieval-art/gargoyles.htm
• https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/
  why-gargoyles-and-gryphons-keepwatch-
  over-cities
• http://www.norwich-churches.org/
  Glossary/glossary.shtm
• Gargoyles of Melbourne, Quaint and
  Curious Carvings By John Russell Parry

The problem was moisture on skirtings, archtiraves and plasterboard walls in a particular area in a spare bedroom. This room also had a strong musty odour. This had been a problem for over six years and the following measures had been tried over the years-

• Place moisture bead buckets in the room on a regular basis
• Remove any furniture/stored personal effects from this area
• Remove all plants/shrubs along the outside wall
• Dig a trench along the outside wall
• Check the dwelling stormwater
• Contact the council to check their stormwater at the rear of the property
• Check the roof area for possible leaks
• Onsite investigations by family members
• Onsite investigations from builders
• Onsite investigations from other trades
• Onsite inspection from an Engineer (spent 2.5 hours under the dwelling)
• Written report from an Engineering firm (14 page report)

I made my observations in the bedroom and there was droplets of water on the skirting boards, architraves and plaster with a very strong musty smell to the room.

I went to the adjacent external wall and observed that there was an older trench and a number of subfloor vents located in the brick veneer wall.

I then asked for access to the subfloor area. The subfloor area did not have excess moisture on the ground.

In the area below the bedroom the subfloor timbers had a white and brown fungi growing and visible moisture on the Forticon against the external wall.

I then looked for the subfloor vents and could not see any. When the torch was turned off the area was pitch black with no outside light visible (which should have been coming in via the wall vents).

I went back outside to the vents and noted that all the vents were blocked by the Forticon* with no air/ventilation possible to this area of the subfloor.

Moral to the story-check the wall vents first!

*Forticon = polythene film/plastic -Forticon is a heavy duty plastic laid underneath concrete to prevent ground water re-entering and damaging the cured concrete