A baronet who embezzled funds, a royal stonemason and a judge who used to be a highway man – the story of the Redgrave monuments really has it all! Read all about our #May monument of the month now in our blog: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-we-do/blog/church-monument-of-the-month-may-2025-st-marys-redgrave Images by Stephen Cole and Tom Jones #englishhistory #historylovers #churchmonuments #historybuff #visitsuffolk (fb)

Looking at entries for Cambridgeshire in the The Courtauld National Wall Painting Archive reveals a real treasure of material relating to St. John’s church, Duxford. You can find photographs of conservation work back in the 1980s, shortly after the church came into the care of CCT. There is much published material about the wall paintings, of course, and among this can be found an excerpt from the Journal of iconoclast William Dowsing, describing his visit to Duxford. William Dowsing was a prolific 17th Century puritan and "commissioner for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition", who removed or defaced items in over 250 churches in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, earning him the nickname “Smasher Dowsing” and resentment from the locals. However, thankfully many of the ‘superstitious’ wall paintings of saints and devils at Duxford survive to this day and you can see marvellous paintings from the 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th Century in this church. Plan your visit now: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/our-churches/st-johns-church-duxford-cambridgeshire Or check our 'What's On' page! You can see theatre at Duxford this summer with This Is My Theatre. All images (c) Andy Marshall #englishchurches #wallpaintings #wallpaintingwednesday #conservationconversation #WallpaintingWednesday #englishhistory #cambridgeshire (fb)