The Church
This simple Norman church in Gloucestershire, remote from the village it once served, has the oldest timber roof of any building in England. Its greatest glory, however, comes from having some of the best preserved medieval wall paintings in Britain. Those in the chancel are particularly rare, dating from the early 12th century, and are the most complete set of Romanesque frescos in northern Europe.
The paintings are a vivid reminder of a time when church interiors were covered in such paintings. They tell stories from the Bible, depict the lives of saints, and show terrifying visions of demons and eternal damnation.
It was probably Hugh de Lacy who built Kempley church in the early 12th century, perhaps commissioning the remarkable paintings in the chancel as a memorial to his father, Walter de Lacy, a Norman baron and veteran of the Battle of Hastings.
The large west tower of the church was built during the 13th century, when the Welsh wars of Edward I exposed Kempley to reprisal raids, although there are no records of the church being attacked. Instead it became steadily more isolated as the villagers of Kempley moved to higher ground two miles away.
In the 16th century, when images in churches had to be removed following the Reformation, the paintings were covered over with whitewash. They were rediscovered in the 20th century, and have now been cleaned and conserved.
The subject of the paintings in the chancel seems to be the Last Judgement. In the centre of the barrel-vaulted ceiling Christ sits upon a rainbow, adored by winged angels (seraphim); on either side of him stand the 12 apostles, with the Virgin Mary and St Peter closest to the chancel arch.
Above the simple round-headed windows there are representations of the heavenly Jerusalem, and between the windows and the east wall there are two figures with the hats and staffs of lay pilgrims. These are almost certainly Hugh and Walter de Lacy. The identity of the bishops painted on either side of the east window is not known, but they may be early popes.
Wall paintings of this kind are very rare in England and their muted colours and treatment of drapery are typical of the Romanesque style of painting in France. The artist may well have been a French monk from Hugh de Lacy’s own foundation at Llanthony Priory.
In the nave of the church there are more paintings of a slightly later, probably 14th century, date. These are worked in tempera painted on dry lime mortar unlike those in the chancel which are frescoes (painted directly onto wet plaster). Their subjects – appropriate for the nave of a church, which was used by the laity – warn of the dangers of temptation. They include the Wheel of Life and St Anthony and the Devil.
The Cache
To find the cache, find the answers to the following questions:
Q1: At the published co-ordinates, how many words are engraved along the bottom of the wooden sign? = AB
Q2: Go to waypoint 2, look at the grave from the porch. How old was Rachel when she died? = CD
Q3: What year did John Brooke die? = 1EFG
The cache can be found at:
N51.58.(E-A)(B+F-E)(B+C) W002 28.(G+D)(A+C-D)(D+F)
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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