St Mary’s Church at Houghton-on-the-Hill stands proud and windswept on a lonely bridleway in Norfolk’s Breckland. It wasn’t always so.

For forty years it had disappeared inside a refuge of brambles and ivy until in 1982 an enquiring rambler found a door and a church within. Her husband, Bob Davey, spent the rest of his life restoring St Mary’s to make it a place of meditation, worship and rest. It is now a Grade 1 listed building and one of the nation’s treasures.

During the restoration a patch of paint was found on the east wall. Experts became interested, and before long, not one, but three layers of original wall-paintings had been discovered. The earliest of these layers dated to, along with the fabric of the building itself, around 1090, making them some of the earliest and most significant wall-paintings in Europe.

Join historian Dr Sue Gattuso – Trustee of the Friends of St Mary’s, as well as manager of Swaffham Museum – who has been continuing the work of Bob Davey in attempting to untangle the stories of St Mary’s, as she discusses the history of the church and details the messages of the paintings. These world class art treasures seem to embody in a literal way the layers of history that make English parish churches so endlessly fascinating.’

Dates: Friday 4 August 2023
Times: 7pm - 8.30pm (doors open from 6.30pm)
Tickets: £8 per person
Booking: Use the 'Book now' button or call 01284 758000
Venue: Moyse's Hall Museum

This event is promoted by West Suffolk - Heritage

To Book - Click Here

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