In 1868, an extraordinary discovery was made at the Church of St Thomas Becket — an entire wall of didactic 13th-century paintings lurking beneath thick plaster.
There are clear scenes, such as Jesus entering Jerusalem, His arrest, the Last Supper, the Risen Christ with Mary Magdalene and Cain slaying Abel.
The latter might have reminded pilgrims en route to Canterbury of the terrible fate of the church’s named saint.
Sadly, those pilgrims would have been a few hundred years too early to see Chagall’s 12 dazzling stained-glass windows at All Saints, Tudeley, less than two miles west.
Installed between 1967 and 1985 (the year the Russian-French artist died), they are unique; the only other Chagall-designed glass in Britain is a single window in Chichester Cathedral.
See more of Secret Britain
Traeth Llyfn beach, Pembrokeshire: 'A beach so remote you’ll be the sole person on it'
The remote Traeth Llyfn beach is a Secret Britain spot accessible only by the adventurous.
Mynydd Carningli, Pembrokeshire: The ancient volcano in the shape of a reclining woman
The peak of this remote mountain in West Wales is the next spot to make our Secret Britain list.
Thorney Island, West Sussex: The beauty spot accessed via a secret button through a barbed wire fence
The beaches of Thorney Island, next to Chichester Harbour, are our Secret Britain selection today.
Gwennap Pit, Cornwall: 'The most magnificent spectacle this side of Heaven’
Annie Elwes kicks off our series on Britain's secret places with a look at Gwennap Pit.
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The garden created by a forgotten genius of the 1920s, rescued from 'a sorry state of neglect to a level of quality it has not known for over 50 years'George Dillistone’s original Arts-and-Crafts design at Knowle House, East Sussex, has been lovingly restored and updated with contemporary planting. George Plumptre tells more; photography by Clive Nichols.
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21 of the greatest craftspeople working in Britain today, as chosen by the nation's best designers and architectsWe've persuaded some of the most celebrated names from our Country Life Top 100 to name the craftspeople they have in their own personal little black books.
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St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
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The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
