Hunky Punk is Somerset (in the West Country of England) dialect for grotesque carvings on the side of buildings (especially churches).
By definition, a hunkypunk is an architectural feature that serves no purpose. Therefore, a true gargoyle is not a hunkypunk because it serves to drain water through its mouth. Some carved creatures found on churches might look like gargoyles, but are not if the mouth cannot drain. Hunkypunks were often carved to create a balance of decoration. A typical example might be found at the corner of a church tower, along the coping ridge below any castellations. Often there are carvings on each corner, yet the roof may only drain in one direction and so there might be three hunkypunks and one true gargoyle.
There is a belief that a hunkypunk is only a short squatting figure typical of those found in some Somerset churches. It is true that these serve no defined structural or architectural purpose and that by the definition above, they are hunkypunks. Hunkypunks come in many shapes and sizes however and are recognized in spiritual architecture throughout the world although mostly in middle to late medieval building onwards. Some theories consider that the balance of good and evil created in church design to remind worshippers of the narrow path they tread was present in everything. This meant that for every good and benign creature such as a saint or an animal to signify purity, there had to be an opposite to bring out the fear of evil. In York Minster, for example, the carvings in the Chapter house, which are particularly disgusting and obscene and which were supposedly created as caricatures of the then Dean and Chapter, were put there above the seats to create an opposite to each occupant, who we might like to assume was not in fact the foul person their carvings made them out to be.
The origin of the term hunkypunk has been ascribed to the Old English "hunkers" which means haunches and "punchy" which means short-legged.[1]
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The church tower at Isle Abbots has eight Hunky Punks depicting a person playing the bagpipes, an oriental lion dog, a goat, a dragon, a Chinese dragon, a primitive dragon, a winged lion and a lion.[2]