Church of St Peter and St Paul

The Church of St Peter and St Paul stands in the village of Chaldon, Surrey, on ground that has held a place of worship since before 1086. A small building of nave and chancel, it is built mostly of flint with stone dressings and has a low tower added in 1843. The nave walls date from the eleventh century, while the rest of the church belongs to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. A blocked arch on the north side shows a former chapel once stood there. The south aisle leads to a chapel of St Catherine rebuilt in the early fourteenth century, and the north aisle has a vestry at its west end. The church is famous for its large wall painting of the Last Judgement and purgatory, uncovered during restorations in 1870–71. The mural covers the west wall of the nave and is divided by a cloudy band into upper and lower halves. The lower half shows demons boiling sinners, a saw balanced on sinners’ backs, the Tree of Knowledge with the Serpent, and the Seven Deadly Sins. The upper half shows Christ in a nimbus at the top of a ladder, the Harrowing of Hell on the right, and the Archangel Michael weighing souls on the left. Experts call it one of the most important English wall paintings of its date and link its style to Greek Orthodox traditions. Inside, the nave has a two-bay arcade on north and south sides leading to aisles. The chancel contains an Easter Sepulchre from the fourteenth century and a pulpit from 1657. The chancel window is wide and dates from 1460, while the north aisle windows are from 1330 and the south aisle window from the early seventeenth century. The south porch leads into the tower base at the west end of the south aisle. Outside, the church sits among quiet lanes with views over the Surrey countryside.