'Pre-Raphaelite'.
Painted church - Adam and Eve
The murals retell the stories from the bible. Above can be seen the tales of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, complete with forbidden fruit and the serpent. The naked figures of Adam and Eve are, given the nature of the venue, suitably 'clothed' by Mother Nature's leaves and branches!
Interestingly the colours are flattened in the murals - there is no chiaroscuro here. I would not describe them as 'Pre-Raphaelite'.
Painted church window
The austere Norman style of the church sits strangely with the decorative art painted across its features. Above can be seen a Norman-style window with colourful decoration.
Painted church scene
Some of the murals show elements of abstraction in the flat areas of colour and repeated patterns in the water, as can be seen above. It is interesting to see that the pressures of the modern art style were already building in Victorian England.
Norman church
The carved stone altar in the church nicely contrasts with the decorative nature of the murals.
Painted church eves
The murals cover virtually the entire four walls of the church up to the eaves as can be seen above.
Decorated church roof
The ornately arranged and carved timbers in the church ceiling add to the overall effect of a visual feast.
Painted church walls
Around the base of the church walls are set glazed tiles in what Victorians thought was the 'Spanish' style.
Painted church walls
The church also has a full set of stained glass windows, also made by Clayton and Bell, which add to its beauty by bathing nearby walls in varying colours of light.
Painted English church. Church of St Michael and All Angels
The church altar is also very finely decorated with exquisite carvings.
Some historians have suggested that one purpose of the murals was to challenge the revolutionary thinking of Charles Darwin. Darwin was a Victorian naturalist whose Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection threatened to upturn Christian ideas about the origin and evolution of life on Earth. Some Christians still do not accept Darwin's theories even today.