page_title: St Botolph's Church, Hardham
section_title: Introduction
hierarchical_section_title: St Botolph's Church, Hardham / The wall paintings / Introduction
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of England parish church of St Botolph, Hardham, England: painting on the west wall of the chancel showing a wyvern tempting Eve and Adam., 1050-1100.
context_page_description: St Botolph's Church is the Church of England parish church of Hardham, West Sussex. It is in Horsham District and is a Grade I listed building. It contains the earliest nearly complete series of wall paintings in England. Among forty individual subjects is the earliest known representation of St. George in England. Dating from the 12th century, they were hidden from view until uncovered in 1866 and now "provide a rare and memorable impression of a medieval painted interior". The simple two-cell stone building, with its original medieval whitewashed exterior, has seen little alteration and also has an ancient bell.
context_section_description: In the early 12th century, St Pancras' Priory at Lewes, one of the richest monasteries in England, apparently supervised the decoration of the church interior with an extensive set of frescoes.  Murals from the same school—known as the Lewes Group — can also be seen at Coombes Church near Shoreham-by-Sea, St John the Baptist's Church, Clayton and St Michael and All Angels Church at Plumpton, and were once visible at the church in Westmeston as well. Unusually, the frescoes cover the whole church interior.  They are celebrated for their age, extent and quality: Ian Nairn calls them "the fame of Hardham", and descriptions such as "fine", "[Hardham's] particular glory" and "one of the most important sets in the country" have been applied. The frescoes at Hardham were not on display to worshippers for very long: they were covered with whitewash in the 13th century.
caption: Adam and Eve - the temptation.
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