WHAT a delightful discovery - that of an oil painting of Warwick Castle, signed by H Hughes in 1912, which was found under old wallpaper during redecoration on the landing of a terraced house in Park Lee Road, Blackburn (LET, April 12).

Evidently, the artist painted it for his sister, who lived there when the house was erected at the turn of the century. Restoration being a problem, the picture, painted on to the plaster, has been re-covered.

A similar dilemma arose during the demolition of St Joseph's old church at Audley and involved paintings of the Twelve Apostles and Stations of the Cross. Attempts to extract them from the walls failed, and the paintings perished with the rubble.

There must be many other such murals of interest, whether hidden or not. There used to be an impressive scene of Windsor Castle along a wall in the back room cocktail bar of the Castle Inn, in Market Street Lane, painted presumably during a refurbishment in the 1950s. It now no longer exists.

However, it is pleasing to see that the portrait apparently of the armoured medieval knight, De Lacey, mounted on a steed, alongside a river surveying a castle in the distance - also executed in the 1950s - still survives to complement the chimney breast and the bar lounge of the De Lacey Arms Inn, in Whalley.

Are there any other interesting painted murals about?

J A MARSDEN, Scarborough Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.