In the quiet village of Chaldon, Surrey, the Church of St Peter and St Paul holds a secret that has drawn visitors from across the globe for more than a century. Tucked away inside its ancient walls is the Chaldon Doom Painting, a remarkable mural dating back to around 1170 AD. This haunting and vivid artwork, which once lay hidden beneath layers of whitewash, is now celebrated as one of Britain’s oldest and most extraordinary surviving wall paintings.
The Chaldon Doom Painting is no ordinary mural. It’s a dramatic vision of the biblical day of judgement, split between salvation and damnation. The upper half of the painting depicts the ladder of salvation, where souls, guided by angels and judged by Christ, ascend toward heaven. Below, the scene darkens: a hellish landscape unfolds, showing the seven deadly sins in all their gruesome detail. Demons boil sinners in cauldrons, saw them in half, and drag them down into torment—a medieval warning to all who entered the church, and a powerful piece of visual storytelling.
But for hundreds of years, this masterpiece was lost to sight. During the Puritan era of the 16th and 17th centuries, religious reformers deemed such imagery “popish” and distracting, so the painting was covered over, its message and artistry obscured. It wasn’t until around 1870 that the artwork was rediscovered, sparking new interest in both its history and meaning.
Today, the Chaldon Doom Painting is carefully preserved, and its presence is both a blessing and a responsibility for the church’s current vicar, Rev Helen Burnett. Speaking to Secret Surrey, Burnett reflected, “You see different things in it depending on where you are in your own head and heart.” She added, “It’s a blessing in some ways because it draws people in. Many people visit from all over the world. It’s also a burden because you have to look after it. There’s many layers to how to use it, and sometimes I just suddenly realise there’s something really hopeful about that ladder for instance.”
While Chaldon’s mural offers a window into the spiritual anxieties and hopes of medieval England, another historic treasure has recently been recognized for its own unique contribution to British heritage. On August 31, 2025, Saunders’ Boathouse in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, was granted Grade II listing, cementing its status as a building of historic and architectural value. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, following the advice of Historic England, made the designation official, ensuring the boathouse’s preservation for generations to come.
Built around 1894 for Samuel Saunders, a pioneering boatbuilder and engineer, the boathouse stands as a rare surviving example of a late Victorian commercial boathouse on the non-tidal River Thames. Its distinctive rows of gable roofs and riverside location have made it a local landmark for well over a century. But it’s the story behind the structure that truly sets it apart.
Samuel Saunders, whose blue plaque now adorns the building, was a man ahead of his time. At Goring, he patented the Consuta boat building method—a technique involving thin layers of wood stitched together with copper wire and waterproofing material. This innovation produced lightweight, tough hulls that allowed boats to achieve higher speeds, revolutionizing river travel and competition. In 1898, Saunders built the steam launch Consuta as an umpiring boat for the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta. The craft’s fame only grew when it was later used by the BBC for live television commentary during the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, a testament to both its durability and design.
As leisure boating boomed along the Thames—spurred on by the arrival of the railway in the 1840s, and immortalized in Jerome K. Jerome’s classic Three Men in a Boat—Saunders’ business thrived. The boathouse itself was more than just a place to build and store boats; it included a riverside wharf, a showroom, and even a manager’s flat. Over the years, the building adapted to changing times. Its showroom was leased to WHSmith and then to the Royal Mail for use as a sorting office, while today, part of it houses a dental practice.
Historic England’s Sarah Gibson remarked that the listing “celebrates the building’s design and its origin as the early business premises of Samuel Saunders who became one of England’s leading boatbuilders and engineers.” Indeed, Saunders’ legacy stretches far beyond the Thames. In the early 20th century, he expanded his business to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and his company continued to innovate, developing faster and lighter powerboats, flying boats, and even aircraft. In 1928, aircraft designer Sir Edwin Alliott Veron Roe invested in the business, which then became Saunders Roe, or Saro. Among its most famous creations was Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird K3 speedboat—a record-breaking vessel that further cemented the company’s reputation for excellence.
The recognition of Saunders’ Boathouse as a Grade II listed building is not just a nod to its architectural charm, but also a celebration of the ingenuity and ambition that shaped Britain’s industrial and recreational history. As Gibson noted, “The listing celebrates the building’s design and its origin as the early business premises of Samuel Saunders who became one of England’s leading boatbuilders and engineers.”
Both the Chaldon Doom Painting and Saunders’ Boathouse are testaments to the layers of history that lie hidden in plain sight across England. Whether it’s the spiritual drama unfolding on a church wall or the quiet innovation of a riverside workshop, these treasures remind us that the past is never far away. They invite us to look closer, to ask questions, and to appreciate the stories—sometimes hopeful, sometimes harrowing—that have shaped our world.
As visitors continue to flock to Chaldon to marvel at the mural’s vivid depictions of heaven and hell, and as Goring-on-Thames celebrates the official recognition of its iconic boathouse, it’s clear that heritage is not just about preservation. It’s about connection—between people, places, and the stories that endure. In the words of Rev Helen Burnett, there’s always something new to discover, depending on where we find ourselves “in our own head and heart.”
