Wall Paintings
The Medieval Wall Paintings
Medieval wall paintings were revealed in the chancel during the restoration work done at the start of the 20th century. Conservation was undertaken on them in the early 1970s by Eve Baker (a leading conservator of wall paintings), who also uncovered further paintings in the chancel and those, too, that can now be seen in the nave. These extensive wall paintings are all considered to be of very high quality, many of them probably being the work of one or more of the medieval kings’ own painters.
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St Margaret of Antioch
St Margaret of Antioch, patron saint of mothers and midwives, in the recess in the chancel’s south wall
St Catherine of Alexandria
Patron saint of philosophers and teachers, in the recess in the chancel’s north wall.
painted frieze
Painted friezes along the top of the north and south walls contain figures, including apostles and the Virgin Mary.
depictions of beasts
Around the heads of windows in the north and south walls are depictions of real and imaginary beasts, including an elephant and a griffin, a goat and a hare, dragons, and a leopard.
an owl
On the south wall, adjacent to the priest’s door, is an owl.
a hunting scene
A magnificently executed scene of a huntsman, three hounds and a hare, cowering beneath a bush, on the south wall of the nave. The paintings on the north wall (a Weighing of Souls and, to the right of it, St Christopher), are now too faded to be successfully photographed.