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Church clean unveils medieval craftmanship

Sophie Parker
BBC News, Wiltshire
Reporting fromSalisbury
St Thomas's Church, Salisbury A carved and painted wooden angel, wings outstretched and painted gold. It holds a shield with a woman stylised to resemble a bird. It is attached to a well-decorated beam with red and barber pole style stripes.St Thomas's Church, Salisbury
St Thomas's Church, Salisbury A woman holds a small paintbrush as she goes over large gold lettering on a colourful beam.St Thomas's Church, Salisbury
There are 238 wooden angels in the church - all uniquely decorated - and now some have been properly cleaned
The work mostly involved cleaning, but there was also some re-touching in places

Specialist cleaning has revealed more of what a church looked like over 500 years ago as it highlighted the work of medieval craftsmen on part of its ceiling.

St Thomas's Church, in the centre of Salisbury, is already well-known for its huge and rare 'Doom painting' which depicts judgement day, but there are other paintings up high too, including 238 unique carved angels.

With the church in the centre of the city, it is hoped that slowly uncovering more of the medieval decoration will bring in visitors.

Peter Heier, who is part of the group working to get parts of the building restored, said they want to try and uncover how it was in the 15th Century.

Peter Heier - who has a white beard and white shirt - looks at the camera while standing in front of a colourful wooden angel on a beam
Peter Heier is part of the church group working on the project

Mr Heier said: "Gradually we will hopefully clean the rest of the ceilings in the church.

"I think it brings visitors in. It's on the Southampton, Winchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge route.

"Although it's hidden, it's right in the middle of the city, so it's easy for people to see."

Looking up high above an archway in the church - surrounding it is a huge colourful mural, showing Jesus in the centre, a city behind, disciples and people being sent either to heaven where there are angels or to hell where there is a dragon-like creature
The church is well-known for the huge Doom painting, which can be seen the moment people walk in

The ceiling that has been restored is in the area of a church called the Lady Chapel, first paid for in the 1400s by William Swain, a prominent name in the city.

His name and those of other family members appear in vivid gold inscriptions on the large beams.

Ruth McNeilage runs the conservation company working on the project and has been up high on the scaffolding.

She loves to see the original painting.

"You see the actual brush strokes. You see brush hairs. It's beautiful," she said.

Ruth smiles at the camera. Her hair is tied up and she wears a light-coloured linen top. She stands in the ceiling area.
Ruth McNeilage, who runs the conservation company involved, said there were differences between the original work and later attempts at re-painting

Over the centuries, there have been attempts at re-painting.

Using a digital microscope and pigment analysis, Ms McNeilage and the team were able to uncover early decoration, including bright colours and floral designs.

"The original is actually far more free and graceful, like someone who was very used to wielding a paintbrush," she said.

"The 19th Century one is fine, but these are very much stencil flowers, very simplistic. Repeated. There's a difference to the style."

Mr Heier said the latest project cost about £60,000, but the church has received legacies recently and a grant from the William and Jane Morris Fund of the Society of Antiquaries towards it.

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