400-year-old Lord's Prayer found

Rev Dr Matthew Rhodes is fundraising to restore the painting

A hand-painted version of the Lord's Prayer, thought to be more than 400 years old, has been uncovered on a Warwickshire church wall.

The painting was found when a memorial, at St Chad's church in Wishaw, was moved as it became unsafe. The prayer painting was underneath.

Rev Dr Matthew Rhodes, the priest in charge of the parish, said the find had been a wonderful surprise.

"It puts us in touch with previous generations of Christians," he said.

The painting was under a memorial to a landowner who died in 1663 and it has been estimated that is was painted about 150 years earlier.

At one of Mr Rhodes' other churches in his parish, St John the Baptist, wall paintings dating from the 14th Century have been found.

English Heritage has spent more than £100,000 restoring them and Mr Rhodes is to start fundraising to restore the Lord's Prayer painting.