AN ANGLO-SAXON carving of an angel unearthed at Lichfield Cathedral was hailed yesterday as the most important discovery of its type since the 19th century.

The 8th-century limestone panel retains much of its painted decoration, thanks to having been buried for more than a millennium. It is believed by archaeologists to have been part of the shrine of St Chad, Bishop of the Mercians, and an integral part of the Saxon church that lies under the cathedral.

St Chad’s remains were reburied in the church in the late 7th to early 8th centuries. According to the historian Bede, writing in the century after Chad’s death, his tomb became a place of pilgrimage because miracles took place there.

The carving, painted in strong colours, is thought to be one of the ends of a shrine chest depicting the Annunciation. Some of the angel’s feathers are in a gradation of tones from dark red to a pale pink.

The carving emerged from under the cathedral’s nave during an excavation of the site preceding the installation of a rising platform. Warwick Rodwell, consultant archaeologist to Lichfield Cathedral, told The Times yesterday that, just as the workmen were packing up after six weeks’ work, someone “let out a scream”. There it was, among some stone slabs.

Dr Rodwell said: “The panel is exceptionally important. It is a remarkable survival of early medieval sculpture, unparalleled in this country — and indeed on the Continent — for the amount of original paint which survives.” Nothing like it had been found since the Victorian age, he said: “To find a piece that has the paint on is almost unheard of. That’s the really exciting thing.”

It had never been rained on, attacked by worms or roots, or exposed to any weathering that would otherwise have destroyed the paint and pigment.

John Larson, a leading sculpture conservator, was shown a photograph by The Times. “It’s wonderful that it’s so complete,” he said. “This will tell us about a whole range of sculpture that was destroyed during the Reformation. This is the very foundation of English art.”

The original Saxon church was built in 700. Rebuilt in the 10th century, and again by the Normans, it was replaced by the present building during the 13th and 14th centuries.

From Saturday until the end of March the angel, which is just over 2ft high (635mm), will be seen by the public for the first time since the medieval pilgrimages. It will then undergo conservation work before going on permanent display.