St James the Great Church, South Leigh

Methodists and art lovers alike are drawn to South Leigh’s fine heritage‍

Highlights

• Perfect medieval wall paintings

Many English churches have ancient wall paintings, but few are as vivid as those at South Leigh. To experience a church like this is to connect with a huge swathe of lost history. The images were painted in the 14th and 15th centuries and have been carefully restored.

The detail is surprisingly sharp in places. An image of St Clement stands out in particular. It is close to being an icon of this famous saint, who died around the year 100 in the Crimea. St Clement is shown in traditional style with an anchor in his hand. He was executed by being thrown into the sea tied to an anchor – killed by the Emperor Trajan during a mission to the east.

St Clement’s image is found in the north aisle of the nave, on the wall behind the pulpit steps. By coincidence, John Wesley climbed these steps in order to deliver his first sermon. The co-founder of Methodism had no idea what lay beneath the white paintwork behind him. Both delivered a compelling message.

The church’s most eye-catching painting is immediately above this pulpit – a near-intact Doom that covers the chancel arch and wraps into the nave. Saved souls are depicted on the left, and the damned on the right. The dead rise from their graves to discover their fate, as two angels blow the last trumpet.

Directly above the pulpit, St Peter welcomes the saved into the heavenly city. They walk to salvation of their own free will. By contrast, on the opposite side, a group of the damned are strapped together by a spiked restraint, a struggle of limbs and frightened faces. Only the devils are smiling.

The human figures in the Doom are invariably nude, although kings, queens, and bishops are allowed to keep their hats on. The message is that everybody is equal before God, as described in Hebrews 4:13. The unclad figures probably received an extra thick coat of whitewash from the Puritans, obscuring a sentiment they might well have agreed with. There are monarchs and bishops on both sides of the Doom archway, damned and saved alike.

There are also two moving depictions of the Blessed Virgin. An elegant painting on the right of the high altar shows her holding a white lily, a symbol of motherhood, renewed life, and purity. Even the most Protestant churches continue to use floral decoration today, continuing the ancient Christian tradition.

The second image of the Virgin is next to the main entrance, a large mural in which she stands beside St Michael. The archangel is weighing up the sins and good deeds of a soul. Mary tips the scales towards salvation with the weight of her rosary beads: the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin at the hour of our death.

Directions‍

St James the Great, Church End, South Leigh, Witney OX29 6US

www.achurchnearyou.com/church/256/

W3W: table.overlaid.assist

GPS: 51.7784N 1.4303W‍

The church is on the north side of South Leigh, down Church End. This is a continuation of Station Road (the B4022) at a T-junction with Chapel Road. The village is a mile south of the A40 and two miles east of Witney. The church is usually unlocked during the day.