The Painted Decoration
The decoration throughout the church was undertaken by Powell Bros. of Leeds, a company well known locally for their decoration of churches. Over time some of the decoration was lost through
re-plastering and re-painting. Conservation work and original newspaper reports have helped us to restore and recreate the scheme.
Cleaning and restoration of the colour scheme in 2012
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The Blind Arcades
On the north wall are four blind arcades. Each is filled with a religious picture. The images and lettering remind us of medieval manuscripts. The painting technique, ‘spirit fresco’, produced
vivid, stable colours. They were cleaned and restored in 2012. The four themes are from the four gospels in the Bible. They show:
• Christ blessing the children
• The sermon on the Mount
• The feeding of the five thousand (pictured)
• The command to the apostles to ‘go therefore and teach all nations’
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The West Wall
The colourful decoration on the west wall is an accurate reconstruction of an early scheme. This wall was re-plastered in 1974 as part of urgent repairs.
Detailed paint analysis was used to restore the colour scheme.
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The Roof
Powell Bros. also designed the decoration of the roof timbers, in the same Gothic Revival Style as the arcades. The construction of the roof was the work of local craftsman Joseph Hudson.
The red and gold chevrons along the nave of the church lead the eye to the spectacular sunburst over the chancel.
Crick Smith University of Lincoln
The Chancel Angel
In the Chancel at the front of the church, pairs of angels kept watch over the altar. Hours of delicate work by conservators have revealed just one of the guardian angels. The angels were painted
over in 1937 when the church was redecorated.
The paintings in the chancel originally included six angels.
Crick Smith University of Lincoln
The Stained Glass
Charles Eamer Kempe (1837-1907) was a famous stained glass designer. He was an expert on medieval glass and this inspired his work. The quality of Kempe’s work can be seen in the detail of the
angel’s wings and the rich brocaded effect of Mary’s cloak. Yellow was a difficult colour to work with in glass. It was Kempe who perfected the technique.
The wheatsheaf motif was how Kempe signed his work.