“ If this is so, then he is very likely to be St. Walstan of Bawburgh, a saint whose cult was once thought to be confined almost exclusively to Norfolk, not Suffolk¹, although according to his legend, Walstan was born in Suffolk, the son of a prince at Blythburgh. Walstan embraced poverty, and sought work as a farm labourer, becoming in due course renowned for his prayers for sick people and cattle alike. Two calves are said to have drawn his body on a cart to burial, passing through a solid wall in the process. Despite his acquired humble station, East Anglian screens² show him crowned and with a sceptre, and the painter here seems to have taken the same line, giving Walstan aristocratic robes as well as his scythe...” [original version of this page]

It is impossible to be sure, and likely to remain so. A (wingless) St. Michael Weighing Souls can be ruled out, I think, but this could of course be another male saint entirely.

The painting below at the right, further east on the north wall and therefore nearer the altar, is probably the Annunciation. In this case, the figure in the clouds is the Archangel Gabriel, crowned as a saint. He holds a broad scroll, the inscription on it unfortunately no longer decipherable. Below, the Virgin wears a flower-wreath on her head (the dark flowers were almost certainly once red or blue) and the object to the right of her is probably a lectern with a book, thus showing her in the act of reading as at nearby Barnby. Again, there is no certainty here, but the attention-demanding breadth of the angel’s scroll is testimony to the importance of the message on it.

The paintings - the only ones now remaining at Gisleham - are of high quality, and the very striking rays of light are comparable on this site only with those marking the ascent of St. Erasmus’s soul to heaven at Chippenham. They also have an un-English look about them that is hard to define but detectable. It seems to me very likely that French or Flemish painters were working in this corner of East Anglia, and nearby Belton’s Three Living & Three Dead, unfortunately now represented only by a modern copy, is also a strong candidate for ascription to a Continental painter.

¹The only known wall painting of Walstan is at Cavenham in West Suffolk, and he appears on a screen at Foxearth in Essex. As far afield as Clwyd (formerly Denbighshire) in Wales a stone figure with a scythe at All Saints, Gresford, is said to be the saint. The likelihood is that other representations of him will be found elsewhere. [Carol Twinch, In Search of St. Walstan : East Anglia’s Enduring Legend, Media Associates, Norwich, 1995. (New edition in preparation).
²e.g. Barnham Broom, Ludham, Sparham (all Norfolk)

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 : 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. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon.	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 : 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.Helena, Broughton, Bucks	St. Hubert, Miracle of : Idsworth, Hants	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	Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset NEW	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 NEW
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey	Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex	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.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon	St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon	St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants	St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs	St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs
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 NEW	St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs.	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset	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

Original page created 20/2/01
Page revised 11/3/03