Do Scallop Shells in Architectural History have Symbolic Meaning?

I have wondered about the symbolic meaning behind the scallop shell in architecture. It is associated with the St James and the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela. Does it have any significance though in its application on buildings or furnishings? This post throws in some ideas.

William Arnold & Wadham College

Nicholas Wadham (1531/2-1609), of Merrifield near Ilton in Somerset, along with his wife Dorothy (1534/5-1618) were the benefactors of Wadham College at Oxford University. Dorothy’s father, Sir William Petre, had re-founded Exeter College at Oxford. Whilst the instructions Nicholas left from his death bed were somewhat confused, Dorothy ably set about the foundation of Wadham on his behalf. She managed the process but never actually visited the college before she died on the 16^th of May 1618.[i]

In February 1610, Dorothy’s agents identified a site for Wadham College and William Arnold was appointed master mason.[ii]

At Wadham College the statues of the benefactors stand in pride of place overlooking the quad.  The scallop shells sit over the top of the niches like canopies.

The coat of arms of the Wadhams includes scallop-shells and may be connected with their possible underlying Catholic faith.

Nicholas was quite possibly a Catholic as there were suspicions around him, but there is no evidence of him being accused of recusancy. Thomas Moore, a Roman Catholic priest described him as ‘an ancient schismatic’, which implies he attended Church of England worship but had other leanings.[iii] Whilst a widow, in 1612-13, Dorothy was a suspected recusant, and her armoury confiscated. She was granted a pardon in 1615 with no evidence in her written correspondence and she was on friendly terms with the protestant gentry (the likes of Sir Edward Phelips of Montacute House) and clergy.[iv]

Their tomb lies in the Minster Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset. The tomb slab has brass images of both Nicholas & Dorothy.

Below are the arms on the tomb monument of Nicholas and Dorothy in the Wadham Chapel, which include 2 scallop shells.

The tombs are inscribed:

Here lyeth the body of Nicholas Wadham whiles he lyved, of Merefield in ye County of Somersett Esquire, founder of Wadham Colledge in Oxforde, who departed this life ye 20 day of October 1609.

Here lieth also ye body of Dorothie Wadham widow, late the wife of Nicholas Wadham Esq: foundresse of Wadham Colledge in Oxforde who died the 16th of May 1618 in the yeare of her age 84.

According to the sign on the Wadham tomb the arms are described as:

‘Dexter, gules a chevron between three roses argent, seeded, or, barbed and leaved vert, sinister, gules, on a bend or between two escallops argent, a chough proper between two cinquefoils azure, in chief a rose between two demi fleur-de-lys.’

Kingston Lacy House, Dorset

The shell-headed niches became grander statements as architectural taste developed, sometimes part of a grand scheme. The loggia at Kingston Lacy dates from the 19th C. However, the bronze statues commemorate a time of Charles I (1600-1649). There are three statues created by Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805-1867) in large niches. These statues were made circa 1853-55. The shell-heads for Lady Mary Bankes (d. 1661) and Sir John Bankes (1589-1644) are small like rays behind their head. For Charles I the shell is a large canopy over the statue. For more information see my post: Kingston Lacy: A Civil War Heroine, The Philae Obelisk & Tortoises.

Maybe the shells are meant to denote nobility, but with a larger one is for a king.

SUMMARY

It is an impossible and misleading analysis to give any consistent meaning to an architectural ornament such as a scallop shell. It may have meaning for different patrons. For some it may have symbolic meaning for their Christian belief. In England both Catholics and Protestants have used the form in their architecture. For others it is a representation of classical learning and taste. It may be thought of as a ‘courtly’ design of good taste that looks good.

Whatever it represents it has been a form that has prevailed from the classical world and exploded into the English imagination from the Italian and Northern European Renaissance onwards.

It seems like a long journey from a shell-headed niche from the 2nd or 3rd century found in Cirencester through to the grandeur of the niche in later centuries.

2^nd or 3^rd C Romano-Celtic cult stone carving at Cirencester Museum

[i] C.S.L. Davies, ‘Wadham [née Petre], Dorothy (1534/5-1618)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn 23 September 2004, <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/46470> [accessed 28 August 2024].

[ii] C.S.L. Davies, ‘Wadham [née Petre], Dorothy (1534/5-1618)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

[iii] C.S.L. Davies, ‘Wadham Nicolas (1531/2-1609)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn 03 January 2008, <https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/28387> [accessed 28 August 2024].

[iv] C.S.L. Davies, ‘Wadham [née Petre], Dorothy (1534/5-1618)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.