A RARE 16th century wall painting in one of North Yorkshire’s most famous ancient houses is to be protected thanks to a £36,000 grant.

The rarely-seen picture of a Tudor soldier is in a bedroom at Shandy Hall, Coxwold, the one-time home of author Laurence Sterne.

English Heritage has given the grant so the roof on the 15th century timber-framed house can be repaired to stop rainwater getting in.

It was feared damp could damage the nationally important painting and two others in the house.

Hilary Roome, historic buildings architect with English Heritage, said: “In its own right, this kind of building is a rare survival for its age, but together with these rare paintings and the Laurence Sterne connection, it is one of North Yorkshire’s great historic gems.”

The Tudor soldier bears an uncanny likeness to Henry VIII with a headdress of four plumes. Painted mainly in red ochre on a wattle and daub panel, it was discovered behind 18th century panelling during renovation works in the 1960s.

The grant will also pay for experts to stabilise any flaking paint and plaster on the painting.

Similar work will be done to the other two pictures, which comprise a painted ceiling beam in the same bedroom, and another design on a wattle and daub panel in the parlour featuring entwined foliage around the Christian symbol IHS.

The work will be undertaken by the Laurence Sterne Trust and will begin shortly.

Laurence Sterne was vicar of Coxwold from 1760 until his death in 1768. During that time he wrote his most famous work, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

He renamed his house Shandy Hall after his fictional hero’s ancestral home and it became a place of pilgrimage for his fans, who flocked there after his death.