This Zoom talk by Ted Howard was held on Saturday 27th March 2021
Access to the recording of the talk is available for £5, see the SHOP NOW button below.
Learn more about the great Tempera painting which covers the west wall of the church and which is reliably dated at around 1170 AD. Hear how the picture represents the journey of the soul after death and the difficult climb to heaven up the Ladder of Salvation, only achieved after a virtuous life. In his illustrated talk, Ted Howard explained how the whole picture is based on well recorded stories in medieval literature. The Zoom format gave the advantage of being able to view details up close while the explanations are given.
The mural is the largest and most complete example of this type of medieval art. We are extremely privileged to have it on our doorstep. It attracts many visitors, including scholars from across the world and is one of the greatest works owned by the Church of England.
This was a joint event with the Friends of Chaldon Church.
The proceeds from this talk went to the Friends of Chaldon Church for the preservation of the mural. Bookings for the talk, payments to view the recording and donations raised £1200.
The mural has just undergone conservation work and has been given a careful clean. The proceeds from the talk helped pay for this work.
Donations can be made using the DONATE NOW button on the Friends website home page, or can be paid directly to the Friends of Chaldon Church by BACS, or cheques can be sent to the Treasurer of the Friends. Email chaldonhistorygroup@icloud.com for the pay in details or Treasurer’s address. There is a small special thank you for donations of £12 and over (see below) use the DONATE NOW button on the Friends website. If you’d like the recording and to make a donation to get the thank you, you can set the donation figure to £17 or more on the Friends’ website. www.friendsofchaldonchurch.org
The small special thank you: for donations of over £11.70 to the mural appeal (the relevance of that being the date of the mural) you will be sent some current photographs and some historic images of the church and a PDF of the 1933 A Book Of Chaldon Church written by the Rector, Rupert Williams. This includes a good account of the mural and the wording from the Richardson monument, the poem on the brass plate on the old doorstep, as well as the Chaldon Hymn. It’s a lovely little period piece and a source of much interesting information.