A man has revealed how he discovered a 400-year-old mural hidden in plain sight on a wall in his apartment.
Dr Luke Budworth, 29, was shocked to discover a series of friezes at his home in Micklegate, North Yorkshire.
Earlier this year, the medical researcher, who works at the University of Leeds, welcomed builders to his home to install a new kitchen.
While working on the property, the team discovered the first piece of the painting, which features scenes from a 1635 book called Emblems written by the poet Francis Quarles.
Luke explained: “The first people to originally find it were kitchen fitters who saw it under my kitchen cabinet.
Dr Luke Budworth, 29, pictured with the 400 year old painting in his apartment in Micklegate, North Yorkshire
“When they found it, I know there was a piece of wood parallel to the other side of the chimney that might have the same thing.
‘I never thought anything of that before, I thought there were pipes behind him.’
Explaining how the mural had been hidden in plain sight for years, he continued: “We always knew there was a weird part of the wall, but we thought the floor was really weird as it’s been a million different things over the years. the years”.
The history buff, who is originally from Cheshire, says he was originally drawn to Yorkshire because of its cultural significance.
After discovering a piece of history in his own home, Luke says he couldn’t help but start ripping off layers of wallpaper to uncover more of the 17th-century painting.
He continued: “At first I thought it was some old Victorian wallpaper, but soon I could see that it was actually drawn on the wall of the building next door, so it’s older than this building itself.”
‘It is estimated to be from around the 1660s, so the civil war era.
It’s crazy to think that it was here before things like the great fire of London and things like that.
Dr. Budworth now hopes to secure funding for the conservation work to be carried out on the painting.
The mural features scenes from a 1635 book called Emblems written by the poet Francis Quarles (pictured)
After discovering all the friezes in his apartment, Luke now hopes he can raise funds for conservation work to be carried out on the painting and help discover more about the social history of the area.
He continued: ‘I’m so excited to have found and love them, but they’re also kind of a burden. From what I gather, there is no external funding and the maintenance fees are in the thousands of pounds.
“I’ve covered them for now so direct sunlight doesn’t hit them and cause them to lose their color.”
Until then, he currently has a replica of the historic artwork on display in his home study.
Added Luke: “We printed a high-res version of them and put the replica on top to cover them.”
Until he gets the funding, Dr. Budworth displayed the mural in his home office and covered it with a replica of the painting so it won’t be damaged by light.
Historic England said the painting was an “exciting rediscovery” and said the mural of Luke was of “special interest”.
“Hopefully we can spread the word and see if any societies or PhD students want to do some experimental conservation projects.
“I also hope this inspires other people in Micklegate to start looking askance at their own walls.”
England’s Principal Investigator of Historic Architecture for the Northern Region, said the Luke friezes are an “exciting rediscovery”.
“We believe they are of national importance and in the context of York, where domestic wall paintings are quite rare, they are of special interest,” he said.
A Historic England spokesman said: “We believe they are of national importance and in the context of York, where domestic wall paintings are quite rare, they are of particular interest.”
