Wall Painting Open Day hailed as great success
On Saturday 18th July, the church of St Mary the Virgin, Lakenheath, Suffolk, became alive with activity as the first of its Wall Painting Open Days took place. The event was held in conjunction with the annual church fete allowing villagers to mingle and meet with experts from the archaeological and wall paintings community. The church, which contains a unique series of medieval painted decoration, was recently the focus for an extensive conservation and interpretation project aimed at preserving these fascinating medieval images for future generations. To mark the end of the project, and as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, the church threw open its doors to invite everyone to come along and meet those involved in the project.
The event was well attended, with over two hundred visitors passing through the church and taking part in a number of wall painting activities. As well as guided tours of the images, led by Project Manager, Matthew Champion, the visitors were invited to grind their own medieval paints, design their own wall paintings and try their hand at charcoal sketching. For the younger visitors their were numerous activities including wall painting jigsaws and colouring sheets. The event was concluded with a very well attended lecture by Roger Rosewell, acclaimed author of Medieval Wall Paintings in English and Welsh Churches (Boydell 2008), who explained the general history of medieval church decoration.
The event was a great success
, said Father Robert Leach, Vicar of Lakenheath, and it was wonderful to see so many people in the church. The project has been enthusiastically supported by the parishioners and it was nice to see that this enthusiasm is shared by so many others.
The event was the first of two Saturday events happening in Lakeheath as part of the Festival of British Archaeology. The second, a free lecture entitled ‘Conservation and Conflict: the context of the Lakenheath Wall Paintings’ will take place at 12 noon on Saturday 25th of July.
Notes
The conservation of the wall paintings was carried out in February and March 2009 by experts from the Oxfordshire based Perry Lithgow Partnership. The total cost of the project was £54,011. A significant part of this funding has been provided as follows:-
- Heritage Lottery Fund - £32,500
- Suffolk Historic Churches Trust - £7500
- Lakenheath Parish Council - £1000
- Forest Heath District Council - £3000
- Council for the Care of Churches - £5000
- Anthony and Elizabeth Mellows Charitable Trust - £2000
Should you have any further questions, or require further information, please feel free to contact the project manager, Matthew Champion, on 07810 677723.
