Relatively few churches were built in England from Edward VI's time until the Restoration,

Many of the pre-Reformation Green Men are to be found on the choir stalls, rood screens, bench-ends, misericords etc. which were being made right up to the reformation, and certainly valued thereafter as indicated by the survival of the many fine sets that remain in churches and cathedrals throughout the country. Mention has been made of the Whalley Abbey misericords to be found in Blackburn Cathedral (which include a particularly fine depiction of The Fall - see Here). These date to around 1430 and are the work of a Mr Eatough. They were moved upon the dissolution of Whalley Abbey and split between churches at Whalley, Blackburn and Cliviger. It is rare to find words on such carvings, but here we find the lustful wild-man accompanied by a moral proverb - Penses molt et parles pou - (think much, speak little) (see Here) and a warning against folly in the shoeing of the goose (see Here). Here too are two of the finest Green Men carvings of this (or of any) period (see Here and Here) set with sure purpose into this unambiguously moral gallery, however so wordly, however so decorative the execution and however rustically charming to us today. Thus, their didactic nature becomes clear when considering the work as a whole, rather than viewing them in isolation, which of course was never the intention.