The Church of the Faceless Images
"The Church of the Faceless Images" is but one of the clues Father Higgins finds in the Rocks Village Holy Angels Church [The Secret of the Underground Room; 15]. Later, on Lundy Island, Johnny and Fergie come across a roofless chapel that had protected the De Marisco Knights; Johnny realizes the ancient chapel figures in with the original clue:
Stone heads were carved on the arched doorway. They had once been meant to look like saints and kings and queens, but centuries of wind and rain had worn the carved face till they were featureless [94-5].
While on Lundy Island, contributor and Bristol resident Bob Canton searched the cemetery but found nothing there relating to faceless images. "However, I figured that Bellairs stayed at, or at least was in the area of, the Grand Hotel in Bristol during his stay as he features it in the story. If you exit the hotel and turn left to the top of Broad Street and then turn left again it leads you down to Castle Green where there is a roofless church and the south porch has an arched entrance with a faceless image either side in the stonework."
This is the Church of St. Peter, which was blitzed and later gutted following after World War II. According to tradition the building had narrowly escaped destruction during the English Civil War. In 1643 the Roundhead Governor of Bristol Castle, Nathaniel Fiennes, is said to have ordered the demolition of both the nearby St Peter's and St Philip's churches to prevent the besieging Cavaliers from taking up positions in them. It is claimed that only the arrival of Prince Rupert with a strong army of 20,000 Royalist soldiers stopped this action. The blitzed area of the church was transformed into Castle Park.
It is unknown whether or not this was actually Bellairs' inspiration but we've included it since it fits the book's description.
Lundy's Marisco Castle
Contributor Bob Canton confirms there is indeed a castle on Lundy called Marisco Castle: "The old castle ruins were rebuilt by the Landmark Trust and converted into four self catering holiday properties using as far as possible the original stone. Every effort was made to preserve the the old building. The castle is located at the south eastern corner of the island and is at the top of the 300 foot cliff where it dominates the only landing place on the island. Below the castle, at its eastern end, there is a man made cave that would fit the description of an underground room. It was excavated by a man called Thomas Benson who is presumed to have used it to store pirated loot.
"On the highest point of the island there is a cemetry that holds a lot of history. There was at one time a chapel on this site and the foundations are still clearly visible; stones from this chapel is still laying about the place."
