Angels in the house

Winged creatures, robed figures and celestial bodies are under threat in a rural church. Jo Caird speaks to the conservators working to save northern Europe's most complete Romanesque wall paintings

AS you walk into the dimly lit chancel of St Mary's in Kempley, Gloucestershire, it's hard to know where to look first. Behind and around the altar of this pretty church, elaborate decoration covers almost every surface, with winged creatures, robed figures and celestial bodies all vying for your attention. Or, rather, for the attention of the medieval churchgoers for whom this extraordinarily complete Apocalypse scene was painted some 900 years ago.

These frescos, the Christ figure at their centre intended to inspire parishioners to live in accordance with the Lord's will, have lasted down the ages against the odds. Although works such as this were once found on the walls of churches up and down the country, the rigours of the Reformation, as well as the damp English climate, did away with most of them-but not St Mary's.

'For a scheme that intact to have survived and not to be altered, it's really quite striking,' says Michael Carter, senior properties historian at English Heritage (EH), which is responsible for the church. 'We have the most complete cycle of Romanesque wall paintings anywhere in northern Europe.'

EH is trying to keep it that way, but it's not a straightforward task. At some point during the Reformation, when the rich religious iconography of Roman Catholicism became anathema, the paintings at St Mary's disappeared under a layer of whitewash. 'It was a cheap way of covering them up and was what often happened,' explains Mr Carter. 'We don't know what the circumstances were. Was it, "Let's get rid of it this papalistic nonsense?" Or was it done with a very heavy heart: "One day we'll be able to remove this and bring this church back to its splendour?" Whatever the reason, it preserves them for later generations.'"