An outbreak of dry rot has led to a remarkable discovery at a Black Country church.

When workers took away wooden panelling on a wall at St Luke’s Church in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, they discovered two striking Biblical murals.

Both of the stoneworks are eight foot square, one depicting the visit of the Three Wise Men to Jesus when he was an infant and the other of Zacharias in the temple.

No-one knows exactly how old they are, but the Grade II-listed church dates back to 1861.

The panelling was also installed in the late 1950s, so the artwork must pre-date that.

Vicar Richard Espin-Bradley, who has been at the church eight years, said: “We have got a few church members who have been here a while and they didn’t realise it was there.

“It was quite an interesting surprise  to discover them. I think opinion is mixed  some like them, some think they are a bit busy .

“I think they are quite interesting pictures, from a distance you can’t really appreciate the detail in them.”

The murals are now set to remain on display at the church until an investigation has been completed into when the murals were painted and how historically important they are.

A decision will then be taken over what to do with them.

The outbreak of dry rot was first discovered at the end of last year.

The church  falls within the All Saints and Blakenhall Community Development (ABCD) New Deal for Communities area.

It meant Wolverhampton Council and ABCD were able to approve a grant of  £17,607 towards the cost of the remedial work which is expected to cost just under £30,000 in total.

The work began in January 2010 and is now virtually complete.

Large areas of the neighbourhood have been improved under the ABCD scheme, including new parkland, a new St Luke’s Primary School and a new community centre.

Nearby Dudley Road was also closed for several months for improvements which include new street lights, kerbs and landscaping.