A PAINTING created by an RAF pilot based near Dorchester during the Second World War has been saved from destruction.

Developers at the ambitious Silverlake holiday home development at Warmwell Quarry in Crossways found the painting, called The Griffin Mural, as they developed the area for the project.

Rather than destroying the mural, which depicts a cartoon animal flying an RAF aeroplane, the developers at Silverlake decided to salvage it and it will now be featured prominently in the development.

The painting was created by Sergeant Beaumont when he was stationed in the area as an RAF pilot during the Second World War.

Sgt Robert Beaumont was killed in 1944 in a tragic aeroplane accident when he was flying above west Dorset.

He had been out testing one of the new planes for the RAF that was to be used in the battle against the Germans and their allies.

His test had been to check that the guns on the plane were working correctly but on his way back from the test flight, he flew into bad weather where his visibility was greatly reduced, and he hit high ground near Piddletrenthide.

The mural was presented by Red Paxton, owner of Silverlake, to Sgt Beaumont’s grandson Jeff Beaumont and to Sergeant Beaumont’s friend and flight comrade, John Shellard, on Saturday.

Mr Beaumont said: “It went really well, and it was great to meet Colin and Suzanne Shaw, who brought up the subject of the painting with the developers, and the fact that it was going to be destroyed.

“In the end, they managed to salvage the painting and I’m slightly stunned that they managed to take a whole segment out of the wall, but I’m delighted that they have.”

Silverlake is an ambitious 1,000 holiday home development in the former Warmwell Quarry Crossways.

The painting depicts a cartoon animal flying an RAF aeroplane and had been applied to a wall of one of the buildings of the former quarry.

Mr Beaumont, who was born and brought up in New Zealand but now lives near Cambridge, said: “It’s difficult to describe the feeling I had when I first saw the painting, it was quite a unique feeling.

“I have spent years researching my granddad on behalf of my dad because he never met him, and this is a great find.”