Falling foul of Henry

 
What drew me to this stained-glass in Brecon Cathedral was the Stafford Knot in it of course - you can see the knot on this man's shoulder.
He is Edward Stafford, the third Duke of Buckingham.
(The first duke had been born at Stafford Castle and was also the Earl of Stafford. He was the one who had first adopted the knot for the family's badge/livery.) 

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Poor Edward was executed in 1521 after annoying Henry VIII for something or other. 

The face of Owini

Here we have a stained-glass window (from Clun, in Shropshire) showing two Staffordshire saints - St Chad on the left (holding a model of Lichfield Cathedral) and Saint Owini, or Owen, on his right.
Saint Owini doesn't seem to have been too remarkable, but he was the monk who acted as St Chad's right-hand man - and St Chad is significant as the man who brought Christianity to 'godless' Staffordshire in the eighth century.

You'll notice in this scene that Saint Owini gets more of the attention than Saint Chad - which is odd. However, it turns out that the face of St Owini is also that of the Rev Charles Warner, the clergyman who paid for this window. Which may explain that. 

Heritage dilemma

On the outskirts of Rugeley town centre stands the 'Old Chancel' as it is now known. This medieval (12th Century) building forms part of the ruins of the former parish church of the town.  Whilst not exactly derelict, the site is isolated and subject to occasional petty vandalism.
The chancel, which is as big as a squash court only, is permanently closed to access.

What is amazing to think is that its lancet window (in my photo) consists of some rare fourteenth-century stained glass "of a beautiful hue" according to Landor's history. It is protected by a mesh, yes, but....
It's said that we are heritage-crazy in this country (in fact, a bit too fond of the past), but I find it quite bizarre that this glass has not been lifted and transferred to a museum - before it is broken by some kid who is determined to do damage...

Saint Chad - in one piece

It's good old Saint Chad's feast-day tomorrow (March 2nd).  St Chad is the patron saint of Staffordshire, having converted many of the area's inhabitants to the faith in his time as Bishop Of Mercia in the seventh century.

It used to be the case that his bones were paraded around the Catholic Cathedral of St Chad in Birmingham on this day, but I can't find any reference to the practice being scheduled for this year.
In fact, poor St Chad's skeleton has had a torrid time. Not only have his bones been moved from pillar to post, but for a while his head was kept in a small chapel at Lichfield Cathedral - only to disappear during the Reformation.
In this photo of a window at Brewood Church, St Chad is depicted holding Lichfield Cathedral.

Magdalen's feast

I seem to have gotten into the habit of collecting Magdalens.  St Mary Magdalene is always featured in Crucifixion scenes, weeping bitterly at the feet of Christ - as she is here in the east window in Seighford Church.
She always throws a long, bright splash of scarlet into the depiction, as she (traditionally) always had long red hair (as well as a scandalous previous life).  

July 22nd is her feast-day.  

See also:  Alrewas Magdalen; Mapleton Magdalen

Leaded lights nostalgia

'Leaded lights', such as in this example, always give me a strange nostalgic feel for the past.
Once upon a time, any establishment with any claim to respectability (a hotel-pub, an office or a shop even) had these kind of windows, in order to echo their own sense of importance about themselves.

This photo was taken at the Middleport Pottery, much of which has been preserved, in a strange stopped-time sort of way.

Women in WW1

The commemorations for the 100th anniversary of World War One went with some dignity I thought, which was good to see.  The ceremonies that I saw remembered those who died quietly and solemnly.

One interesting 21st Century element in these remembrances was the determination not to forget the part played by women in the conflict. 
In some cases of course, as in this memorial piece of 1920s stained-glass in Gnosall Church, women (nurses) were already properly remembered, as well as the male sailors, soldiers and airmen.

Mystery saint

Saint Editha is a real Staffordshire saint, in that she existed (she lived in the early part of the tenth century) somewhere in or around Tamworth.

After that little fact (ie she definitely existed), almost none of the sources can agree about the details of her life story.  In Amington Church, which is dedicated to her, there is this lovely little stained-glass portrait of her wearing a crown (she may have been a princess) - but that's as fanciful a idea of her as everything else.
A long, lovely article by Christine Smith attempts to sort it all out.  (Well done for trying, Christine!)

Anyway... one source claims that today is her feast-day. 

Great artist - small church

This is as beautiful a piece of Victorian stained-glass as you'll find anywhere. The artist is Edward Burne-Jones, the great Pre-Raphaelite painter.  When the sun shines through it, I could look at it for hours.
I am continually stunned how much work of great beauty is hidden away in our country churches.

Ingestre Church - where you'll find this window - is however more famous for its architecture and its church furniture.     It's seventeenth cenury, and (supposedly) was designed by Christopher Wren.

The friends of the church do a great job in raising funds to maintain it - and to keep it open for the public to look round.

Young Stoke celebrated

The 'Forsyth Window' can be seen in the stairwell at the old School of Art building in Burslem.  Gordon Forsyth was a formidable artist in his own right, and was principal at the Art School for some 25 years between the two wars...

This window (created in 1932) celebrates the new federation of the towns of Stoke on Trent, which had only united into one city at the beginning of the twentieth century.  It expresses the confidence the young city had in its traditional way of life.  
In fact, the School produced some world-famous ceramics designers during Forsyth's time.

Forsyth could not have foreseen that, within forty years of his tenure, the school would be closed. The building is now used as a sort of centre for community and creatives small businesses.

Sexy redhead in church

A lascivious redhead? It can only be Mary Magdalene - here seen at the foot of the Crucifixion, in a church window.

By tradition, Saint Mary Magdalene - one of the three women in Jesus' life - was a reformed prostitute. So, medieval artists gave her flowing scarlet hair, a bit of bare flesh usually, and an erotic pose. 
But this glass is dated 1926, so it's a surprise to find a later artist still really going to town on poor old Mary.

The window is in Mapleton St Mary Church, on the Staffordshire-Derbyshire border.

The other William Morris

Poor William T Morris! Despite being a fine stained-glass designer - as witness these panels in High Offley Church - he is almost forgotten.

He had the misfortune to have the same name as the famous nineteenth century artist William Morris, (whose own stained glass products are admittedly wonderful), so he gets 'lost' in all the stuff about the more well-known man.
He also worked for Morris & Co, so, once again, his name gets swamped.  He doesn't even get a reference on Wikipedia.

The glass you see was put up in High Offley in the 1940s.

The beauty in Brewood

I'd never heard of St Mary of Cleophas (aka St Mary Clopas), but a little research shows that she was the mother of two of the Apostles, and was one of the “Three Marys” who followed Jesus, and was present at the Crucifixion (which is why, I guess, she is holding the Crown of Thorns in her right hand).


Anyway, it wasn't her story but the beauty of this piece of stained glass in Brewood Parish Church that drew me to take the photo.
Old churches really are unrecognised art galleries, with some amazing stuff... in my opinion.

Jesus gets angry

Christ gets upset to the point of anger just once in the Bible, and that's when he sees money trading going on inside the sacred precincts of the Temple. The story goes that he took up a whip and beat the money-changers from the site.
This is such an unusual action for a figure who acts so compassionately and forgivingly that Christian commentators often have a hard time explaining it.

It's such a problem indeed that one rarely sees the scene depicted in churches; and I was quite taken aback to see it done in stained-glass at St Mary's Stafford.
It seems to even be a surprise to the character in the adjoining window - who appears to be turning his head toward what is happening, as though he can't believe it...!

The lady in red

This lady is Mary Magdalene; yes, the wife of Jesus (according to the theory behind the Da Vinci Code book anyway). She is seen her in glass at Alrewas Church.
Identifying people in church stained glass windows is often just a matter of knowing the, er, code – or symbols anyway. St Peter always carries a key for example.
And the reason that we know that this lady is Mary Magdalen is the red hair. Mary was (by another legend) a reformed prostitute, and as red is a symbol of sensuality… Mary got red hair.

I hesitate to think what the real Mary Magdalen would have thought of all these stories about her.

Link: Magdalene (wikipedia)

Moorlands mermaid

The Blake Mere Mermaid, depicted in this terrific leaded window, is a famous character-of-legend in the moorlands around Leek.
She hides out deep in a large pool high in the rocky ridge above Leek. However, sadly, she’s not someone you would want to meet on a dark night: as she drags young men down to their deaths if they are careless when passing her lair on their way home.
A famous pub nearby commemorates her.

Actually, this piece of glass is in an old house, that is now the home of the leading solicitors Fearns Marriott, in the centre of Leek. The total collection of images in the window represents various aspects of the topography of the Moorlands.
I took the photo from outside, in the street, which is why the lighting is a little askew.

Erm...I do like the way that the artist-designer has modestly hidden her bare breasts under a line of lead. (Very discreet indeed!)

Link: The Legend of the Mermaid of Black Mere

Cheadle in colour glass

This beautiful window reminds me that stained-glass work is not confined to the designers of many years ago. This lovely modern glass in Cheadle St Giles Cof E is a perfect riposte.

Its subject is the town of Cheadle itself. It must be unique in that it is a piece of church glass that shows, er, the other church in town as well! (In the top right-hand corner, you can just see a spire over the cottages – that’s the RC church in the town).

Both churches in Cheadle are named after St Giles, who is the patron saint of the town; and the hart/hind (or deer) in the bottom left corner refers to that.    (St Giles was a hermit, whose peace was disturbed when the King of The Goths went hunting after a hind. When the king chased the hind into St Giles' cave, he found the saint had been hit by the arrow intended for the animal. Strangely. in this window, it's the hind which has been shot by the arrow.)

Tixall Church web

My photograph doesn’t show it as well as I’d hoped, but the thing you see in it that appears to be a piece of old hanging thin muslin rag, is in fact an enormous old spider’s web. It sways softly high up in the roof of Tixall Church.

It hangs just above the highest window in the west wall of the church. So it’s no surprise that the cleaner can’t get to it…

Church beauty

This quite beautiful stained glass window can be found in St. Peter's Church at Broughton. The church is a gift for people who love churches because – unlike nearly every other old church in the country – it wasn’t ‘modernised’ in the Victorian period.
It’s almost frozen in time, having been built in the 1630s.

But, this window is clearly Victorian, almost pre-Raphaelite in style.  I think it’s terrific even though it’s actually quite small.

Trouble is, I forget what it depicts…

Christ goes without...

What's special about the Jesus in this photo? Can you see?

The picture was taken at the Unitarian Chapel in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where they say, proudly, that Josiah Wedgwood himself was a regular attender three centuries or so ago. I was being shown round the tiny building, and was asked the same question - but I failed to come up with the answer. Answer: Jesus has no halo (a sign of a divine nature) in this glass. Unitarians are Christians, but believe Jesus was fully human, not divine, so he gets no halo.