St. Thomas Becket Church, England
St. Thomas Becket Church interior.
The St Thomas Becket Church was built as a place of worship for workers working on Salisbury Cathedral in 1220. It was rebuilt again in 1475.
It is best known for the Dooms Day / Last Judgement mural (painter unknown) painted in 1475 but whitewashed over during the Reformation and uncovered again in 1881.
The mural depicts Christ and his apostles in the center with the blessed on the left side and the damned to the right.
Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1160 until his murder in 1170 in Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II.
Two years after his death he was canonized by Pope Alexander III. Saint Thomas’ bones were placed in the Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1538 Henry VIII ordered the Shrine destroyed during the time he dissolved all the monasteries. St Thomas Becket’s remains were destroyed on his orders too.
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