Nowadays English parish churches are quaint, underused decorative motifs for period costume dramas and Kodak moments — but it seems that they weren’t always that way. Fascinating research that is at a very early stage of data gathering seems to point to a completely different role for the medieval church.
The middle class Georgians and Victorians stole those English local cult temples with their ancestor worship and witchcraft symbols, refurbishing them into prissy, wipe your feet, doff your cap and defer to the squire places. Once upon a time churches were garishly painted rooms where cabalistic symbols sat comfortably beside Christian tokens…
Who knew?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28035013
http://www.medieval-graffiti-suffolk.co.uk/index.html