The Murals - The South Chapel

The walls of the chancel aisles were decorated with scenes from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, an allegory of the journey of the human spirit through life and as a preparation of the soul for the after-life. The parable begins in the south chapel with the first four scenes: the virgins setting forth on their journey at the start of day; the virgins tired and weary at the end of day; the awakening by the Angel of the Lord; the wise virgins filling their lamps.

Below the scenes are vignettes giving a commentary on the story including the restoration to lie of the widow's son, the Annunciation, the feeding of the five thousand, Christ with the sleeping disciples, the entombment, the Marys at the empty tomb and Doubting Thomas. Above the archway leading to the nave is a depiction of Christ and the Traveller emphasising the references to a journey. In the background of the Annunciation is the Leaderfoot viaduct which carried the Waverley railway line across the River Tweed near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, an area much visited by the Traquair family. The Doubting Thomas vignette and the foliage above was recreated by Traquair in 1924 after repairs to the masonry resulted in the destruction of her original painting. The colours are darker as Traquair matched the new painting to the surroundings where the varnish would have darkened and the surface beeswax picked up dirt over 30 years since she first executed her paintings.

Above the scenes are references to the coming of Christ (the Tower of Habakkuk) and the after-life (the ceiling represents the garden of paradise with grapes, lilies and pomegranates representing life, purity and love. The chancel ceiling contains verses from Pslam 148 representing the six days of creation illustrated with bands behind six red-winged cherubim.

Around all the scenes are borders of flowers, foliage, birds and geometric patterns covering every inch of the walls, ceiling and arches.