The Brentingby Wall Paintings

Background

According to the Leicester Survey c.1125, the Earl of Leicester held the manor of Brentingby as part of the fee of Thorpe Arnold, and it remained a relatively insignificant holding until the arrival of John de Woodford in 1317.  His purchase of the manor opened a period of prosperity and stability for the hamlet.

Brentingby was never a large manor.   The Poll Tax of 1377 records an adult population of 52.  In 1445 Brentingby was designated as an impoverished village and granted 27% relief from taxation, probably because of a drop in population following the Black Death.  By 1524 only seven tax-payers were being assessed (although this might be less than the total population) and in 1563 only eight households are mentioned in the Bishop's Returns. 

In the seventeenth century Brentingby is included with Wyfordby but by the end of the eighteenth century there were only six houses recorded.  This evidence suggests that the major period of desertion at Brentingby falls in the fifteenth century, probably because the surrounding land was converted to arable and pastoral use.

The location of the Woodford manor house at Brentingby is not known, and there is no evidence today of a moated site in the area.  It seems likely it was near the present Brentingby Hall Farm southwest of the chapel.

The Chapel

The chapel was extensively rebuilt during the Woodford family's tenure of the manor.  An older church was replaced by a larger building, perhaps an indication of an increasing population and prosperity at that time.  The unusual saddleback tower dates from then.

The chapel was remodelled in 1660 when the east end was shortened and a new east wall was constructed, replacing the nave windows. The roof was rebuilt to give it a steeper pitch, and the north door was blocked.  This work was commissioned by the Smith family who had gained ownership of the manor by then.  They also rebuilt the manor house farm in 1658.

The church was declared redundant in the 1950s.  Thereafter its condition deteriorated due to neglect.  In 1977, the body of the church was partly demolished and converted into a house, leaving the tower standing.

The Wall Paintings

In 1972/3, an archaeological survey of the chapel revealed several wall paintings.  At a late stage in the survey, two large figures covered by limewash were found on the west wall of the nave, flanking the doorway between the nave and the tower.  

The paintings were removed and later displayed at Newarke Houses Museum in Leicester.  They were moved to a Leicestershire County Council storage facility when Leicester City Council reorganised the museum.

The Figures

The figure on the left is of a man wearing laced boots and a tunic.  Immediately behind this figure is what appears to be a small red bush.  The head and upper body were damaged.  A bar of yellow protrudes from where the head would have been.  It was conjectured that this may have been a musical instrument.  

However, behind the body of the figure is an area of cross-hatching that may have represented a bundle.  If so, the yellow bar may have been the end of a staff on which the bundle was carried.  

This painting is regarded as a 'memento mori', emphasisng mortality and the transience of physical existence, themes popular in the later Middle Ages.  This figure may therefore be a representation of Time and the yellow bar may be part of a scythe. 

The baggy top is most often found in the period 1420-1440, although Coventry Museum has a surviving example of the same general type dating to the 14th century.  Robin Emmerson of Leicestershire Museums Decorative Arts section proposed a date in the first half of the 15th century, which is also the date suggested by the footwear.  

The figure on the right is a skeleton holding a spear in its right hand and a spade in its left, standing on a base of swirling lines which may be a depiction of flames.  This type of figure, sometimes with an hour glass in addition to spear and spade, is relatively common in such murals. 

Woodford as benefactor

The oldest of the two bells at Brentingby was cast by John of York in 1380.  Another bell by John of York of the same date hangs at nearby Sproxton church. It is possible that they were commissioned at the same time.   Sproxton was also a Woodford possession, having been brought into the family through the marriage of Sir William Woodford to Jean (Joan) Brabazon sometime in the 1350s.

Timeline

1295 - John de Woodford born (based on statements in the Woodford cartulary).
1297 - His wife, Alice Prest, born.
1317 - Purchase by John de Woodford of the manor of Brentingby.
1333 - His wife, Alice, died.
1346 - John de Woodford fought at Crecy.
1348 - The 'Black Death' reached Melton Mowbray. Alice's father and brother died.
1353 - His son, William, knighted.
1356 - John de Woodford fought at Poitiers.
1357 - Possibly, his eldest son Walter died.
1358 - John de Woodford (son of William) born.
1362 - John de Woodford transferred his land and property to his surviving son, William.
1362 - Probable death of John de Woodford.
1380 - Earliest of the two Brentingby bells cast.
1383 - Robert Woodford (of Sproxton) born. (son of John).
1389 - Sir William de Woodford died.
1400 - Sir John de Woodford died.
1455 - Sir Robert de Woodford died.

Sources

St Mary's Chapel, Brentingby- excavations and observations by P. Liddle and S. R. Hughes, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological & Historical Society, 1978-79, (Vol 54).

Philip E.Hunt, The Story of Melton Mowbray, 1957, revised 1979, Leicestershire Libraries.