One of England’s oldest Saxon churches has received a £1 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to preserve ancient paintings on its wall.

St Mary de Crypt has been a place of worship for more than a millennium, and is thought to be one of the smallest churches in England.

At the back of its crypt are two murals, one believed to be from the Tudor period, the Adoration of the Magi, and a much older work dating to medieval times.

Operations manager Helen O’Connor told the BBC that during lockdown she felt inspired to make the paintings more accessible to the public.

“I was sitting there on my own, looking at them, thinking, why doesn't anybody know about them,” she said.

"Visitors couldn't really appreciate them. And it has been six years of getting small grants to get reports done, to then apply to the Heritage Lottery."

The site was originally a place of pagan worship, before the church was built. 

“The depth of history is amazing," O'Connor said. "Two thousand years of religion have dwelt on this spot, from the temple built beneath the current building, to the modern spiritual and educational hub we welcome visitors to today.”

The money will go towards experts creating a 3D render of the walls, allowing future visitors to touch them.

Students will be invited to the church to learn about its “extraordinary importance”, as well as conservation techniques.