Clayton - St John the Baptist

Clayton is a village about 10 kilometres north of Brighton, it is mentioned in the Domesday survey in 1086, when it was called Claitune or Claitona. The Anglo-Saxon church was in the possession of Lewes Priory, which had been given it by de Warenne in 1093. The original dedication of St John the Baptist's Church was All Saints what was a common dedication during the Anglo-Saxon era.

The small and simple Anglo-Saxon building is distinguished by its "remarkable" and extensive set of wall paintings, dating from the early 12th century and rediscovered more than 700 years later. Much of the structural work of the church is 11th-century and has had little alteration.

The wall paintings were painted by monks from Lewes Priory, this was the first Cluniac house in England and had close links to its mother priory at Cluny in Burgundy, and the art techniques developed at Cluny were very influential. The murals were uncovered between 1893 and 1895 when Charles Eamer Kempe was restoring the interior. More were uncovered during subsequent alterations between 1917 and 1919. Most authorities agree that they are frescoes—painted directly on wet plaster.