130–136 Piccotts End is a medieval

timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

building in

Piccotts End Piccotts End is a village in Hertfordshire, England situated on the upper River Gade. While often mistaken for a hamlet, it became a village when its church – All Saints – was dedicated in 1907 and remained a place of worship until the 1970 ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. Originally a

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...

, the structure has been divided into a row of cottages. Two of the cottages are of interest for the art they contain. Important 15th century murals were discovered, at 132, in 1953 and the entire building was listed Grade I the following year. Later murals have been recorded at 134.

Location

is a village in the north of the parish of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

. The original function of the building is not known. It has been suggested that the building was connected with

Ashridge Priory Ashridge Priory was a medieval college of Austin canons called variously the "Brothers of Penitence" or the " Boni Homines". It was founded by Edmund of Almain in 1283 who donated, among other things, a phial of Christ's blood to the abbey. It ...

, which was in existence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

Murals

Inside the house at number 132 are a number of fifteenth-century religious

wall painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

s, which are of particular interest to historians as a rare example of pre-Reformation English Catholic art. The paintings are thought to originate from around 1470–1500. Following the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, religious art came to be regarded as a form of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

and many works were obliterated or destroyed; for this reason, some of the faces in the Piccotts End murals were mutilated and the paintings subsequently covered over by whitewash. They remained hidden for over 400 years until they were uncovered in 1953 by a resident. The origins of the paintings are unknown. Historians surmise that the Piccotts End house may have served as a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

for pilgrims, as it was located close to a pilgrim trail which went via the nearby Monastery of the Bonhommes at Ashridge. At Ashridge, pilgrims could venerate a phial of the

Blood of Christ Blood of Christ, also known as the Most Precious Blood, in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ primarily on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby, or the sacram ...

before proceeding to

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, also known as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be an abbey follo ...

to venerate the holy

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s of

Saint Alban Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an ea ...

. The art historian E. Clive Rouse has noted that the murals exhibit a technique of

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

illustration dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries, suggesting the influence of the artistic style of the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

. The wall paintings consist of five panels, arranged in a type of

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

, resembling a large screen covered with icons, set in tiers. In the centre panel is

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory () is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whose membership change ...

, with the "IHS" Sacred Monogram in the

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

. In the right panel is depicted the

Baptism of Jesus The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

; in the background an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

holds Christ's robes. On the extreme right is a badly damaged image of Saint Clement, the third Pope with a symbolic anchor on each shoulder and the

Papal cross The papal cross is a Christian cross, which serves as an emblem for the office of the Pope in ecclesiastical heraldry. It is depicted as a staff with three horizontal bars near the top, in diminishing order of length as the top is approached. ...

. The left panel contains a

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

(the Virgin Mary holding the dead Christ), and on the far left is a representation of

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

wearing the

Papal Tiara The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign. The name ''tiara'' refers t ...

, with a Papal cross and the

Keys of Heaven The Keys of Heaven, also called Saint Peter's keys, refers to the metaphorical keys of the office of Saint Peter, the keys of the Gates of Heaven in Christianity, Heaven, or the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. It is explicitly referenced in the ...

. In the two lower panels are paintings of figures of

St Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess a ...

(with her Catherine wheel) and

Saint Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr () in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 30th of July (Julian calendar) by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip ...

emerging from the belly of a dragon. Many figures are depicted wearing typical Tudor dress. They are decorated with orange-red, grey and blue and white foliation with yellow fruit and flowers. A blank space in the lower wall suggests the former presence of an altar. It has been suggested that some of the symbolism contained in the wall paintings indicate connections with the doctrines of

Catharism Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

, a sect considered

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

by the Catholic Church.

Hospital

In the 1820s the building was converted for use as a

cottage hospital A cottage hospital is a mostly obsolete type of small hospital, most commonly found in the United Kingdom. The original concept was a small rural building having several beds.The Cottage Hospitals 1859–1990, Dr. Meyrick Emrys-Roberts, Tern Publ ...

by the anatomist and surgeon Sir

Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology ...

. In the early 1830s the number of patients increased because of injuries to workers constructing the London to Birmingham railway. Accordingly, the hospital moved to larger premises at Cheere House in

in 1832.

Access

In recent years there has been limited opening of No. 132, which is privately owned. The public has been able to visit under the

Heritage Open Days Heritage Open Days (also known as HODs) is an annual celebration of England's history and culture that allows visitors free access to heritage sites and community events that are either not usually open to the public, would normally charge an ent ...

scheme.Book Now as Hemel Hempstead's the Bury Is Open for Heritage Tours
'' Berkhamsted & Tring Gazette''. Johnston Publishing Ltd. March 2014. Retrieved 18 Feb. 2017. In 2014 a local conservation charity, the

Dacorum Heritage Trust Dacorum Heritage (DH) is a local history advocacy group in the United Kingdom. It collects and records the history of the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, in the south of England, and aims to encourage the appreciation of the heritage of Dac ...

, launched an appeal to raise funds to buy the property.

References

External links