Editing Cheshire Cat (section)

===Source of imagery===
[[Image:Sandstone carving of 'Cheshire Cat', St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Grinning Cheshire Cat, [[St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall|St&nbsp;Wilfrid's Church]], [[Grappenhall]], Cheshire]]
[[Image:Cheshire cat head.jpg|thumb|right|The cat carving in St&nbsp;Nicolas's Church, [[Cranleigh]], Surrey]]
There is a suggestion that Carroll found inspiration for the name and expression of the Cheshire Cat in the 16th&nbsp;century sandstone carving of a grinning cat, on the west face of [[St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall|St&nbsp;Wilfrid's Church]] tower in [[Grappenhall]], a village {{convert|4.9|mi|abbr=on}} from his birthplace in [[Daresbury]], Cheshire.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/alderley-edge-and-cheshire-countryside/features/lewis-carrolls-birthplace |title=Lewis Carroll's birthplace |website=National Trust |language=en |access-date=1 April 2019 }}</ref>

Lewis Carroll's father, Reverend [[Charles Dodgson (priest)|Charles Dodgson]], was Rector of Croft and Archdeacon of Richmond in North Yorkshire, England, from 1843 to 1868; Carroll lived here from 1843 to 1850.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Ann |year=1979 |title=Lewis Carroll: A biography |place=London, UK |publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons |isbn=0-460-04302-1}}</ref> Some historians believe Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat in ''Alice in Wonderland'' was inspired by a carving in [[Church of St Peter, Croft-on-Tees|Croft church]].<ref name=Gardner1999/>{{rp|page=62}}

[[Image:Britskorthaar-64091287828362D7bA.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A fully mature [[British Shorthair]]]]
Another possible inspiration was the [[British Shorthair]]: Carroll saw a representative British Shorthair illustrated on a label of Cheshire cheese.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Ian |title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures |year=2010 |publisher=Profile Books |page=67}}</ref> The [[Cat Fanciers' Association]] profile reads: “When gracelessness is observed, the British Shorthair is duly embarrassed, quickly recovering with a 'Cheshire cat smile'”.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Geyer |first1=Georgie Anne |title=When Cats Reigned like Kings: On the trail of the sacred cats |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=219}}</ref>

In 1992, members of the Lewis Carroll Society attributed it to a [[gargoyle]] found on a pillar in St Nicolas's Church, [[Cranleigh]], where Carroll used to travel frequently when he lived in Guildford (though this is doubtful, as he moved to Guildford some three years after ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' had been published) and a carving in a church in the village of [[Croft-on-Tees]], in the north east of England, where his father had been [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Cheshire Cat found by fans of Lewis Carroll |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=8 July 1992 |agency=Reuters |place=Toronto, ON |page=C24}}</ref>

Carroll is believed to have visited [[St Christopher's Church, Pott Shrigley|St Christopher's church]] in [[Pott Shrigley]], Cheshire, which has a stone sculpture resembling the pictorial cat in the book.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pottshrigleychurch.org.uk/history.html |title=St.&nbsp;Christopher's church |place=Pott Schrigley, Cheshire, UK |series=History |website=pottshrigleychurch.org.uk |access-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref>

{{Anchor|Adaptions}}