Church hoping to preserve medieval wall painting

Peter Martindale, a conservator of works of art specialising in wall paintings, is compiling a report on the necessary restoration work required

A church is hoping to preserve an important medieval painting uncovered on a wall.

The Doom or Last Judgement painting - a medieval church wall depiction of when Christ judges all souls going to either heaven or hell - in St Peter's Church in Cound, Shropshire, is thought to be 600 years old.

It needs significant work to preserve it which will have to be paid for by a fundraising campaign, the church said.

A report on its condition and what restoration work would be required was now being compiled. A church warden estimated the cost would be about £50,000.

Peter Martindale, a conservator of works of art specialising in wall paintings, has been visiting the church to assess the painting for repairs, and said it was now among only 70 or 80 left.

It was discovered in 1891 when builders were stripping plaster from the east wall of the knave.

"This particular type comprises of two tiers of which we've only got some of [left]," he said.

"In the top tier you would have Christ in Majesty, sitting on a rainbow - there's a bit of the rainbow there - displaying his four wounds and there would be with him, depictions of people like the apostles or the Virgin Mary which we have, St Peter's here on the painting, John the Baptist.

"Then a tier below that... you'd have the saved, so people rising out of their graves and being taken to the heavenly city, which is described [in the painting] with the buildings.

Not all of the painting has survived, but the church hopes to save what is left

"On the other side.. would be the damned... On that side of the painting you'd have devils, the jaws of hell, depiction of eternal suffering."

The "ephemeral" paintings were now viewed as "very, very important", he added.

"They're very easy to lose. It's just plaster on wall and paint on that plaster," he said.

"They are wonderful pictures of our history how people lived and how people depicted things."

Church Warden Ann Cooke said it was beautiful and accepted restoration and cleaning work was needed which would likely cost about £50,000 and a "huge" fundraising campaign was needed.

"We've had concerts, people have given us generous donations, we had money form the fete," she said.

"We also raise money to keep the church going and for our insurance and things like that and this is just extra."

She said they were lucky as some paintings were varnished over in Victorian times so "this one has remained as it was".