All Saints Church, Turvey

A medieval cultural treasure draws art-loving pilgrims to this church, while a nearby community of nuns keeps the artistic tradition alive through icon painting workshops.

‍Highlights

• Crucifixion fresco

The little wall painting of the Crucifixion in Turvey’s church is the masterpiece of an unknown medieval artist. It shows Christ in agony on the cross, with sorrowful figures on either side in a powerful and very human depiction of the Passion. It was lost behind whitewash but rediscovered during Victorian restoration and preserved in the 1930s.

The painting is a fresco, described as either 13th or 14th century. It sits in a recess beside the altar rail in the south aisle chapel, on the right as you enter the church. The cross is painted on a green background. The Blessed Virgin appears on the left, while on the right another figure bends in sorrow, a hand perhaps brushing away a tear. Despite the fact this second figure appears to be wearing a veil, it is thought to represent St John the Evangelist. The figure holds a book in his hand, making this a conventional Crucifixion composition, although his elongated face seems vaguely reminiscent of portraits of St John the Baptist.

The face of Christ has been scratched away, but the rest of his figure is clear. The agonised twist of his body became common in later medieval paintings, but has a few earlier precedents. It reminded me of the tortured figure at Breamore, Hampshire, in a Saxon depiction of the Crucifixion.

The guide talks of a Romano-Saxon origin for the building, which presumably means 5th century or thereabouts, but there is no firm evidence for this. The earliest part of Turvey’s church is certainly Saxon. If you stand at the back of the nave facing the altar, there are two rounded arches high on the wall on your right, remnants of a late 10th-century building. These could be called Romanesque, which means an imitation of classical Roman styles. I wonder if this is the source of the early Roman rumors.

Also in this village is Turvey Abbey, where there has been a fitting revival of devotional art in the form of icon painting workshops: www.turveyabbey.org.uk. The church is also visited by the Way of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Directions‍

All Saints Church, Carlton Road, Turvey MK43 8EP‍

www.allsaintsturvey.org.uk

W3W: livid.metro.hillsides

GPS: 52.1631N 0.6268W‍

The church is on Carlton Road, just off the A428 in the middle of the village. It is open daily 9am–4pm.