A man has revealed how he discovered a 400-year-old mural hiding in plain sight on a wall in his flat.
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 into his home to have a new kitchen fitted.
While working on the premises, the team discovered the first piece of the painting – depicting scenes from a 1635 book called Emblems, written by poet Francis Quales.
Luke explains: ‘The first people who originally found it were the kitchen fitters who saw it under my kitchen cupboard.
Dr. Luke Budworth, 29, pictured with the 400-year-old painting in his flat in Micklegate, North Yorkshire
“When they found it, I know there was a parallel piece of wood on the other side of the chimney that could have had the same.
‘I had never thought about it before, I thought there were pipes behind it.’
Explaining how the mural had been hiding in plain sight for years, he continued: ‘We always knew there was a strange stretch of the wall but thought the flat was really shaky as a million people had built it over the years. have been different things.’
The history buff, who is originally from Cheshire, says he was originally drawn to Yorkshire because of its cultural significance.
After discovering a bit of history in his own home, Luke couldn’t help but peel back the several layers of wallpaper to discover more of 17th-century painting.
He continued: ‘At first I thought it was old Victorian wallpaper, but I soon saw that it was actually drawn on the wall of the building next door – so it is older than this building itself.
‘It is estimated to be from around 1660, so the Civil War era.
“It’s crazy to think it was here before things like the Great Fire of London and things like that.”
Dr. Budworth now hopes to raise funding for conservation work on the painting
The mural features scenes from a 1635 book called Emblems, written by the poet Francis Quarles (pictured)
Having uncovered all the friezes in his flat, Luke now hopes to do just that securing funding for conservation work on the painting and helping to discover more about the social history of the area.
He continued: ‘I am very excited to have found and love them, but they are also kind of a burden. From what I understand there is no outside funding and conservation costs are thousands of pounds.
“I’ve covered them for now so they don’t get hit by direct sunlight and lose their color.”
Until then, he currently has a replica of the historic artwork in his home office.
Luke added: “We printed a high-resolution version of it and put the replica on it to cover them up.
Until he secures funding, Dr Budworth has put the mural on display in his home office and covered it with a replica of the painting so that light doesn’t damage it
Historic England said the painting was an ‘exciting rediscovery’ and said Luke’s mural was of ‘special interest’
‘Hopefully we can announce it and see if there are associations or PhD students who want to do experimental nature conservation projects.
“I also hope this inspires other people on Micklegate to look suspiciously at their own walls.”
Historic England’s senior architectural researcher for the Northern Region said Luke’s friezes are an “exciting rediscovery.”
“We think they are of national importance and in the context of York, where home murals are quite rare, they are of particular importance,” he said.
A spokesman for Historic England said: ‘We think they are of national importance and in the context of York, where wall paintings in the home are quite rare, they are of particular importance.’