h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

St. Stephen’s Chapel was built in the old Palace of Westminster (the idea being Henry III’s but the building not started until 1292 after his death. It was completed in 1297).

When the Palace of Westminster ceased to be a royal residence the chapel became the debating chamber in the House of Commons.
St. Mary’s Undercroft (a smaller chapel located in the crypt of the bigger St. Stephen’s) was used as a chapel, a cellar a dining room and while Oliver Cromwell was in power he ordered his soldiers to destroy the elaborate carvings and wall paintings and use it as a stable.

Most of the old Palace of Westminster was lost in the fire of 1834, including St. Stephen’s Chapel. St. Mary’s Undercroft did survive and continued to be used as a storeroom.

On the night of the 1911 census, suffragette Emily Davison (the same person who threw herself under the Kings horse at the 1913 Derby) hid in a cupboard in St. Mary’s Undercroft so that she could put her address on the census as ‘The House of Commons’ and so show that women could also be in Parliament.

In the 1980’s when St. Mary’s Undercroft was restored they discovered that under the whitewash on the walls was the original medieval wall paintings, it seems that Cromwell’s soldiers hadn’t destroyed them because they thought they were so good and had simply whitewashed over them.

St. Mary’s Undercroft is now used as a chapel again and has regular services and is open to the public on certain days. It is located under St. Stephens Hall and St. Stephen’s Porch which were built where the old St. Stephen’s chapel was.

Excellent steve-paul, just what we're looking for. There seems to be a lot of these medieval wall paintings still in tact in Churches all over Britain. This in itself could make an interesting topic for an entry. Nice work.

thanks, i cetainly is an interesting topic - these paintings (or bits of them) seem to crop up everywhere.