Annunciata Elwes continues her look at Secret Britain's best spots with the surprising artworks at the churches of Capel and Tudeley in Kent.
In 1868, an extraordinary discovery was made at the Church of St Thomas Becket — an entire wall of didactic 13th-century paintings lurking beneath thick plaster.
There are clear scenes, such as Jesus entering Jerusalem, His arrest, the Last Supper, the Risen Christ with Mary Magdalene and Cain slaying Abel.
The latter might have reminded pilgrims en route to Canterbury of the terrible fate of the church’s named saint.
Sadly, those pilgrims would have been a few hundred years too early to see Chagall’s 12 dazzling stained-glass windows at All Saints, Tudeley, less than two miles west.
All Saints Church with the Chagall stained glass windows in Tudeley; Kent.
Installed between 1967 and 1985 (the year the Russian-French artist died), they are unique; the only other Chagall-designed glass in Britain is a single window in Chichester Cathedral.
Marc Chagall’a stained glass window, All Saints’ Tudeley Church, Kent.
See more of Secret Britain
Traeth Llyfn beach, Pembrokeshire: ‘A beach so remote you’ll be the sole person on it’
The remote Traeth Llyfn beach is a Secret Britain spot accessible only by the adventurous.
Mynydd Carningli, Pembrokeshire: The ancient volcano in the shape of a reclining woman
The peak of this remote mountain in West Wales is the next spot to make our Secret Britain list.
Thorney Island, West Sussex: The beauty spot accessed via a secret button through a barbed wire fence
The beaches of Thorney Island, next to Chichester Harbour, are our Secret Britain selection today.
Gwennap Pit, Cornwall: ‘The most magnificent spectacle this side of Heaven’
Annie Elwes kicks off our series on Britain's secret places with a look at Gwennap Pit.
