DR Sue Andrew gave an excellent lecture on the Three Hares at the Tavistock Wharf on Monday, April 4 at 2pm to an audience of 90 people as part of the Friends of the Wharf programme of lunchtime lectures, writes Ann Pulsford.

In Devon there are many examples of the three hares in roof bosses on church ceilings.

Many are medieval and made of wood. The earliest ones are dated at 1450.

In all, there are 29 bosses which have been located in 17 churches. There may have been many more at one time but these have been lost through the years.

There are some plaster ones as well, such as in Broadclyst dated from the early 19th Century. There is one in the chapel at Cotehele, Cornwall and one known in Dorset and Somerset.

A three hares boss is often juxtaposed in western European churches with a boss of the Green Man, perhaps a representation of sinful humanity.

The Three Hares Project was set up in 2000 by art historian Sue Andrew, who has been researching the symbol since the mid-1990s. She collaborated with cultural environmentalist Dr Tom Greeves, and photographer and film-maker Chris Chapman.

Their book The Three Hares a curiosity worth regarding launched on Friday April 8 at Chagford.

The earliest known examples of the three hares date back to the 6th Century AD on the ceilings of Buddhist cave temples in Dunhuang,   an important Chinese trading post.

In the Far East and Middle East, they are often found in ornate metallic carvings, or in glass or ceramic. Some are in textiles. The motif seems to have been important in the world’s major faiths, spanning thousands of miles and at least 1,500 years - but no-one knows why.

It has been found in a Christian context, Buddhist, Islamic and Jewish. The motif has even been found in Egypt.

The three hares motif was revered in all the different contexts in which it is found, but, as yet, there is no known contemporary written record of its meaning. It may be expected that the motif would have had different meanings in different cultures but, as an archetype.

The hare is represented in world mythology and from ancient times has had divine associations. Its elusiveness and unusual behaviour, particularly at night, have reinforced its reputation as a magical creature. The hare was believed to havemystical links to the female cycle and to the moon which governed it.

It seems there is no evidence to support any link between the three hares motif and the tinners of Dartmoor.