INGLEWOOD FOREST, ENGLAND—During renovations at a former Tudor hunting lodge known as The Ashes, which is located in Inglewood Forest, Cumbria, workers exposed rare sixteenth-century wall paintings, according to a statement released by Historic England. The Grotesque-style artworks were brought to light upon removal of sections of more recent plaster work that had been covering up the 450-year-old images. The scenes, which were created using a secco technique in which pigments are applied to dry plaster, feature fantastical beasts and decorative foliage thought to imitate textile designs of the period. “The combination of motifs discovered here is unusual even by national standards,” said Historic England’s Myra Tolan-Smith. Scientific dating of the building’s timbers using dendrochronology confirmed that the roof covering the earliest part of the house was constructed from wood felled around 1561 or 1562, during the reign of Elizabeth I. To read about efforts to pinpoint the precise location of Henry VIII's jousting yard on the former grounds of Greenwich Palace, go to "Joust Like a King."
