This Saturday evening there will be a chance to learn about one of Farnham’s hidden treasures – some rare and important murals from the early 20^th century, painted on the walls of St Mark’s Church.

The Kitty Milroy murals are in the chancel of St Mark’s, and were painted by local woman Eleanor Catherine Wallace Milroy (‘Kitty’) between 1911 and 1920, using other local women as models. The murals blend influences from European Symbolist painting and the Arts and Crafts Movement and following a report by Rickerby and Shekede, a wall painting conservation practice which has worked with the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Getty Conservation Institute, the works are now seen as having a unique significance. Comparisons have been made with pictures in The Watts Chapel and it is known that Mary Watts visited the area.

“These paintings stand at a critical point in the stylistic and technical development of mural practice in England, and have considerable local and national importance,” said painting restorer Nick Seversway.

The murals are in need of restoration and there will be a talk on them by Mr Seversway at 7.30pm this Saturday (October 20) in St Mark’s Church, Alma Lane, Gu9 0LT. Admission is free.

Pictures by Richard Heath.