Suffolk-born (probably at Exning) Etheldreda was a princess, the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia. Married twice, she managed, despite some resistance, to remain chaste within both marriages, and was eventually able to pursue her true vocation as a nun. In 673 she founded a double monastery at Ely, on the site of the present-day cathedral. She is not unknown to art by any means, appearing on at least six screens in East Anglia, but this is the only wall painting of her known to me, and it is the earliest of the paintings, which span more than three centuries, in the church at Willingham.

In her left hand is a book with an elaborate cover, and in her right she holds two palm branches, although she was not a martyr in the usual sense of the word. Etheldreda actually died of plague, during an outbreak which carried off several members of her community. A tumour in her neck, caused by her illness, was removed by her doctor, and when her uncorrupted body was examined seventeen years later, the wound from the surgery was found to have healed.

Although Etheldreda is sometimes shown as an Abbess, holding a pastoral staff, at Willingham the emphasis is on the miraculous post-mortem healing of the wound in her neck - what looks at first glance like a rather clumsily painted red mouth is in fact the livid scar left - in life, at any rate - after the surgery. The saint (also known familiarly as St. Audrey in England) attributed the neck tumour to divine punishment for her youthful fondness for necklaces - the ‘tawdry lace’ promised to the shepherdess Mopsa in Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale¹ is a direct reference to the lace necklaces sold cheaply at St. Audrey’s fairs, usually held in late June.

Etheldreda is in a window-splay on the west wall of the south aisle, and in the splay opposite is a painting of another female saint. She has never been conclusively identified, but I suspect that she might be St. Sexburga, Etheldreda’s sister and her immediate successor as Abbess of Ely. She is far less clear than Etheldreda, but her blue shoes, and her elegantly draped robe, looped over her left arm, show well. Like Etheldreda, she wears a veil over her head and carries a book in her left hand.
Painted on the background is a ‘stoning and roses’ pattern incorporating delicate tendrils of foliage - an early example of this kind of design.

There are many more paintings at Willingham; not all are medieval, but those from the early 17th century provide an interesting insight into the way attitudes to church decoration changed after the Reformation. All will be here in due course.

¹ Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, 1V, 1

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

22/7/2003