Author to give talk at Pickering Church on medieval wall paintings

Kate Giles, buildings archaeologist, professor and author, will speak at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Pickering, on Monday, September 11.

A professor at the University of York, Kate has recently published a book on the rare medieval wall paintings in the church, giving insight into the discovery, restoration and meaning of the important artwork.

The paintings were hidden for hundreds of years until the accidental collapse of some plaster in 1852. They were considered controversial and whitewashed over by the vicar at the time, before being painstakingly restored 25 years later in a project that took ten years to complete. Pickering Church is now home to one of only a few surviving examples of such extensive medieval church paintings in the country.

Kate specialises in historic buildings in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York and is Co-Director of the University’s Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Trustee of York Civic Trust and the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust and former Council member of the Society for Medieval Archaeology and Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology.

The event will begin at Pickering Church at 7pm, where Kate will talk about the late medieval wall paintings which surround the church’s visitors. There will then be an interval during which the event will move to Pickering Book Tree, where there will be a Q&A session.

Tickets are free of charge, but need to be booked in advance. They can be booked in person at Pickering Book Tree, Market Place, or online at pickeringbooktree.co.uk.