John Henry Middleton

“ John in the Apocalypse, 'There was war in Heaven, Michael fought with the dragon,' which war denotes a division between the angels, the establishment of the good, the ruin of the wicked, or in the visible church the persecution of the faithful. ”

“ The chancel arch, as well as the vault, is much injured and distorted by settlement, and a crack along the crown of the latter has seriously injured the paintings.
The whole wall surface of the chancel, in addition to the soffit of the vault, has been richly decorated with painting, and most of it still remains in a remarkably perfect condition, considering its great age. The comparative freshness of the colouring is owing to the whole surface having been thoroughly covered with repeated coats of whitewash, and thus preserved from the effects of light, and other sources of injury. ”

“ The chancel, where the best preserved paintings remain, is covered by a plain, circular barrel vault, built in rubble. This vault has nearly been the destruction of the chancel, by spreading and so pushing out the walls, which were without buttresses, as is usual in Norman work. It has, however, been lately shored up and made secure from outside. Such vaults as these are common in military and monastic buildings of the eleventh and twelfth centuries ”

“ On either side of the figure of Christ the symbols of the Evangelists are represented—the bull and the eagle on the south side, and the lion on the north side, all holding books. The fourth beast is very indistinct, and is too much injured to be made out. ”

“ Eastward of the two side windows are a pair of niches, rather wider than those occupied by the Apostles. In each is a figure without nimbus, and holding a staff in each hand, one resting on the shoulder and the other used as a support, suggesting the idea that these figures represent pilgrims. ”

“ With regard to the technical process by which these paintings were executed. I am convinced that they are not true Frescoes: that is, that they were not painted on the wet stucco with purely earthy Pigments and a lime medium: one reason being that the colour is little more than superficial, and has not sunk into and become incorporated with the stucco, as is the case with true Fresco. Another is the absence of "Fresco edges" as they are called, that is, the scarcely perceptible line that separates the patch of stucco laid one day from that of the next day ”