MURALS REVEALED BY BOMB

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 71, 25 August 1947, Page 5

MURALS REVEALED BY BOMB

PAINTINGS ON ENGLISH CHURCH WALLS SUBJECT DATED AT ABOUT 1380 Several medieval wall paintings have been uncovered by Mr E. Clive Rouse in Pickworth Church, Lincolnshire. The first sign of their existence was some colouring on one of the walls, which became even more noticeable during the war when more whitewash fell after the explosion of a bomb near the church. All the walls were then thoroughly examined. ■ Above the chancel arch there was found an elaborate reuresentation of the Doom or Last Judgment. The upper part had unfortunately been mutilated by the lowering of the roof, but the rest of the late fourteenth-century painting is unusually well preserved, and shows Christ’s feet resting on an inscribed sphere, flanked by kneeling figures of the Virgin and St. John and tows of Apostles. Below is a scene of the general Resurrection. On the north nave wall there is a painting of the Ascensions. Two bays of the clerestory are occupied by a notable example of the old French mortlaity of Les Trois vifs et les Trois Morts, the Kings and Deaths being represented on foot in a forest. The costume dates the subject as about 1380. Before this painting there are other subjects, some much mutilated; but a charming Weighing of Souls with the Virgin interceding can be identified. Elsewhere there is decorative painting of chevrons and brocade pattern, and a consecration cross, of various dates. Pickworth Church is a notable example of fourteenth-century architecture and retains an unusual number of medieval and later fittings. The whole building is now in serious decay, and the rector, the Rev. R. Ellis, is issuing an appeal for £3OOO for its repair and restoration.