Fylde: Woman finds hand-painted war mural under wallpaper of new home

Blackpool-born Natalie Mansfield was stripping the wallpaper of her first home in Bispham when she uncovered a hand-painted mural of fighter planes and battleships lurking underneath.

Natalie says the house itself dates back to 1935 and thinks the painting was created around this time.

She was planning to turn the space into an office but has been left wondering if she should preserve the painting in some way.

Natalie Mansfield found a painted mural hiding under her wallpaper

She said: “It seems to go round on to other walls too but has been painted over at some point as I can only just make out some of the outlines of other images.

“I moved in earlier this month and wanted to decorate the room to be used as an office.

“I've not decided on what to do next; whether to restore/preserve it or to decorate as planned.”

Natalie, 30, posted the images to a Facebook group and it has since amassed over 800 likes with dozens of people eager to comment on the photos.

Natalie said it is "nice" to have a piece of history on her walls.

She said: “I was only planning on replacing the wallpaper in one section as it was peeling - but as I realised there was a painting underneath, I had to do the whole wall.

“I think the colours in it are lovely and it's been nice to wonder about its history and who might have painted it.

“It's had a great reaction on social media and people have shared lots of ideas for how to preserve it in one way or another.”

Commenting on her Facebook post, one person said: “Amazing find! Hope you can restore it. Maybe find who the owners were and get to know who painted the mural.”

Another said: “What a fabulous piece of history. I’m torn between thinking you should try and preserve it and then you actually might want to decorate your own house your way. Either way, thank you for sharing this with us all.”