Wall painting from the 15th Century

Pickering Parish Church is famous for its collection of medieval wall paintings, which follow the medieval liturgical calendar.[6] These were believed to have been commissioned in 1450, but were covered over in the next century with the Protestant Reformation.[2] Their discovery in 1852 was an accident, caused by plaster falling from the wall. Though he initially had them uncovered, the vicar at the time, the Reverend F. Ponsonby, disliked the paintings and insisted they be recovered, much to the frustration of the then-Archbishop of York.[6] Ponsonby instructed WH Dykes to sketch the discoveries, but then had the images whitewashed. However, in 1876, a new vicar, the Reverend GH Lightfoot, took the decision to remove the whitewash and restore the paintings.[7] The paintings cover the majority of the nave walls, depicting scenes from the Lives of the Saints,[8] the seven corporal acts of mercy, the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ, and also the Harrowing of Hell.