External appearances can be misleading. Uninspiring when viewed from the outside, some apparently ordinary buildings conceal hidden gems within. A prime example is the tiny church of St Martin in the Surrey village of Blackheath – who would expect to find, behind its thoroughly unchurch-like exterior, a rich and vibrant display of murals depicting scenes from the life of Christ?
St Martin’s Church dates from the 1890s, and was designed by architect Charles Townsend (1851-1928) in the Arts and Crafts style. Inspired by Byzantine and Romanesque buildings he had seen on his travels in Europe, Townsend created a low-roofed structure modelled on an Italian wayside chapel.
Instead of the traditional cruciform footprint, he opted for an oblong hall topped off with a low, barrel-vaulted ceiling. Alabaster lines the chancel walls and sanctuary arch, which are separated from the main body of the hall by a gleaming, gilded screen. In line with the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, the church was built wherever possible from locally sourced materials.
The murals are, for me, the stand-out feature of the church. Of course, back in medieval times nearly all internal church walls were awash with paintings, but these were mostly destroyed or painted over during the Reformation. Since then, adorning church walls with murals has happened in a few places, but it remains unusual to find any English church painted in this fashion. For me, this is what makes St Martin’s so appealing.
The St Martin’s murals were painted in 1893-95 by artist Anna Lea Merritt (1844-1930). Born in Philadelphia, Merritt moved with her family to Europe in 1865. By 1870 she was living in London, where she met the noted art critic Henry Merritt (1822–1877). They married in April 1877, but sadly Henry died just three months later.
Anna outlived her husband by over 50 years, and – remarkably for a woman of that period – spent her days, and earned a living, as a successful artist. She believed that true religious feelings are accompanied by light, hope, and cheerfulness, and her murals at St Martin’s convey the message wonderfully. St Martin’s is unlike any church I’ve ever visited, and one that I shall never forget.
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Surrey is several hours drive from where we live, so it’s unlikely we’ll be making a return visit to St Martin’s any time soon. However, there is a church much closer to home that also boasts some fascinating murals. St Mary’s Church in the Derbyshire village of Cromford was built in the last decade of the 18th century. It is historically significant as the final resting place of Sir Richard Arkwright, builder in 1771 of the world’s first water-powered cotton-mill.
Arkwright, regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Industrial Revolution, commissioned the construction of St Mary’s to serve the workers at his Cromford cotton-mill. However, the striking wall paintings were not added until 1898, as part of the church’s centenary celebrations. The artist responsible for them was Alfred Octavius Hemming (1843-1907).
From the outside St Mary’s looks more typically like a church than St Martin’s. But here too there is no hint of the splendid and highly unusual murals that lie within. And perhaps we should see this as a metaphor, or maybe a life-lesson? External appearances, these two churches remind us, are often misleading. We should endeavour to look beyond them to seek out that which initially lies hidden from view. Only by doing so do we stand a chance of discovering deeper meaning and true beauty.
Now I'm 64 
A really interesting post. What a fabulous find! Never judge a book by its cover! The next time I am in the UK I must pop over to Surrey. My brother-in-law lives in nearby Berkshire. Such a shame we lost so many of these images during the Reformation. Lynn
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Thank you, Lynn. Definitely worth a visit if you get the chance.
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I agree – a really interesting post and such wonderful buildings. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you. Definitely highly unusual churches, so different from traditional interiors here.
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Thank you. I’m pleased that these two splendid churches struck a chord with you.
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Very impressive artwork. You keep discovering things that are more or less in “your own backyard.”
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I never cease to be amazed by some of the places we’ve visited since we retired…long may it continue!
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Beautiful artworks and churches! “External appearances can be misleading”, so true!!
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Yes, I sometimes need to remind myself to “look deeper” and not be satisfied with superficial first impressions.
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These are quite extraordinary and beautiful buildings and certainly would have fulfilled the aim of bringing people closer to god.
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Yes, they’re very inspiring, and quite moving too.
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Like another fellow blogger, I also thought of books and covers, of unprepossessing exteriors and delightful interiors (although I quite like Townsend’s architectural style). And delightful is what the interiors of both of churches hold. I have been enamored of murals for a long time, and find the pastel colors of St. Martin’s particularly appealing.
I’m glad you and Mrs. P keep finding local and regional treasures. Thank you for taking the time to share them with us through such well-crafted and illustrated posts.
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Thank you for your kind words, Tanja. One of the unexpected bonuses of retirement is that – with more time at our disposal – we’ve been able to move beyond typical high profile tourist attractions to track down hidden gems like these.
I totally agree with your assessment of the St Martin’s murals. Walking through the door of that unassuming little church to be confronted by those paintings was utterly breath-taking.
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The last two sentences capture the sentiment of the piece so well. A lesson we should all take to heart. And what beauties those murals are. I especially liked reading about the history of St. Martin’s. Yay for Anna, but I am very sorry her husband died so soon
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Anna was clearly ahead of her time, a very impressive lady.
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These are both stunning! It must be sheer delight if you come across these murals unexpectedly – makes me wish that more churches had them.
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Agreed. Can you imagine what churches must have been like before the Reformation, when murals were common? But I guess they were also cold, dark and damp!
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Hubby and I went to Istanbul a couple of times and were most impressed by the mosaics in some of the old churches there. (Haghia Sophia was a place I’d always wanted to see.)
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I seem to remember being impressed by the same thing on my only visit to Istanbul, c47 years ago!
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Mine were a little more recent at about 25 and more years ago!
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Hope you enjoyed visiting Surrey 🙂 And what lovely decorations in that church. Not one I’ve been to but I might go along at some point.
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Surrey, or at least the parts of it we visited, was more quietly rural than I anticipated. We had a good time there.
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Yes, I don’t know who wrote Surrey’s reputation but I think they must have stayed in the overflowing London fringe. Most of Surrey is indeed rural, with exceptional value for wildlife – it has been called the most biodiversity-rich inland part of the UK. It’s not only the most wooded county, but also has extremely important conservation areas like the Thames Basin Heaths and Box Hill. My native county, and proud of it. 🙂
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I was born and raised in Middlesex, and I think we regarded Surrey as the place where all the posh, rich people lived, residing in mansions with their own swimming pools and tennis courts. I don’t ever remember considering the possibility that Surrey might contain countryside, let alone woods (other than Box Hill). At last, over half a century later, I’ve filled that gap in my knowledge!
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