The "Star Wars" villain is just one of the many intriguing carvings that decorate the building. "All gargoyles are grotesques, but not all grotesques are gargoyles," Eckstrom explained.

The carving of the villainous Darth Vader was the third-place winner in a contest for children during the cathedral's 83-year construction. Others among its 112 gargoyles include a bear ...

I was taken to Exeter Cathedral to see a gargoyle that was carved by my great-grandfather," says Simon. "My mother had been taken to see it by her mother too - when I returned to show the carving ...

Upward of 2,000 specialists have labored over its restoration — hewing enormous wood beams, carving and repairing stone gargoyles, retuning the 8,000 pipes of the Grand Organ. But even now ...

Over the years however ... the word has changed and gargoyles have come to symbolize any carving of a grotesque nature regardless if the carving has a functional or purely decorative purpose." ...

Carvings created by Michael in recent years include a traditional gargoyle, west front capitol and boss stones within the Deans’ Eye Window tracery. Michael's fellow Lincoln stone masons have ...