Find Barton on a map

St. George and his horse in triumphal pose at Barton. This painting is far too early to be associated with the English victory at Azincourt, but it has a celebratory air, and it may commemorate some earlier significant success during the Hundred Years War such as the definitive battle at Poitiers in 1356, after which the French king Jean le Bon was captured and later ransomed for an enormous payment.

Not much is left of George - his head with its ‘pageboy’ hair, and one armoured and spurred leg and foot - but his horse is painted as both brawny and spirited, as medieval warhorses were bred to be. What is left of the folded, flattened and obviously defeated dragon cowers at the right, seemingly about to be crushed into oblivion by the horse. Much more unusual than that, though, is the inclusion of two birds, facing each other on the ground beneath the horse’s belly; it seems to be a significant detail, but precisely what it signifies defeats me entirely. Proverbial reference suggests itself - ‘To kill two birds with one stone’ - for example, variants of which are found in French and Latin from the classical era on, but certainty is unlikely. But it is a fact that the English also captured the strategically important town of Calais at this time - a king’s ransom and a vital beachhead were achieved in a single campaign - so the proverb is apposite. Intriguing, but incapable of proof, as so often.

The painting joins two others at Barton on here for some time. They are St Dunstan, and St. Antony, with his attribute, the pig. Neither is at all commonly found - indeed these two may be the only paintings of them left in the English church now.

St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire	St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire	St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk	St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent	St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs	St Catherine of Alexandria, Cold Overton, Leicestershire NEW	St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants	St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks	St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk	St. Catherine of Alexandria, Martyrdom of: Burton Latimer, Northants NEW	St. Catherine of Alexandria or another female saint : Ashley, Hampshire NEW	St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon.	Scenes from the life of St. Cuthbert : Pittington, Co. Durham NEW	St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs
St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk	St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent	St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk	St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon	St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks	St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants	St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks	St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs	St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs	St. Francis Preaching to the Birds : Little Kimble, Bucks	St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk
St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants	St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk	St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks	St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk	St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk	St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon	St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire	St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks
St. George & the Dragon : Kirtlington, Oxon	St. George & the Dragon, Barton, Cambridgeshire NEW	St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks	St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk	Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire	St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N. Yorks	Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset	St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent	St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk	St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants	St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey	Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex	Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Duxford, Cambridgeshire	Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire NEW	St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds	St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset	St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks
St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk	St. Nicholas of Myra & the Boys in the Barrel, Padworth, Berkshire	St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon	St. Paul : Selling, Kent	St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon	St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants
St. Peter : Selling, Kent	SS. Peter & Paul, Old Idsworth, Hampshire NEW	St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs	St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs	S. Stephen, Martyrdom of, North Stoke, Oxon	St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk	St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants
Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire	St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs.	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, North Stoke, Oxfordshire	St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire	St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk	St. Zita : Horley, Oxon
St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon	Unidentified female saint : Heydon

© Anne Marshall 2000 & 2011