St Mark’s is taking part in the 2025 Heritage Open Days and welcoming people to the church on Friday, September 19th at 11am and Saturday, September 20th at 3pm, to see the Kitty Milroy murals and have all their questions answered by Nick Seversway who is an expert on the subject.

This is an ideal opportunity for anyone who hasn’t yet seen the murals, or would like to find out more, to come along and have a detailed look.

The murals, which are of significant national importance in the development of 20th-century mural painting, were painted between 1911 and 1920 by local woman Eleanor Catherine Wallace Milroy (‘Kitty’) using other local people as models.

They blend influences from European Symbolist painting and the Arts and Crafts Movement and have been featured in the national media. Comparisons have been made with pictures in The Watts Chapel and it is known that Mary Watts visited the area.

The murals are a celebration of faith, seen through the natural world, and include the words ‘O, all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord’  (The Benedicite, a canticle taken from ‘The Song of the Three Holy Children’ from the apocryphal parts of the Book of Daniel) and ‘O give thanks unto the Lord’ (from Psalm 136).

They had deteriorated significantly over the years and in 2021 were restored by internationally renowned mural conservationists Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede.

There is no need to book, so please come along on September 19th or 20th. Refreshments will be served.