Stained Glass

This is the best stained glass window in our village church. It is by Christopher Whall, the most famous Arts & Crafts stained glass artist in the early years of the 20th century. His most prestigious commission was the stained glass for the Lady Chapel and Chapter House at Gloucester Cathedral.

The main figures are the "sower and reaper" from the Bible story, which is appropriate for our agricultural village. They are depicted as sturdy medieval peasants. The sower has a bag of seed under his arm. The early spring landscape looks just like it does today with the bare trees. There are two horses ploughing where we had all the tractors last weekend (before it started to rain again!). The reaper is in a late summer landscape with corn stooks. He has a sickle in one hand and a sheaf of corn over his shoulder. The angels above are watering the land.

The window was commissioned by Duchess Susan in memory of her husband, Algernon, 15th Duke of Somerset, who died in 1923. There is a door from the churchyard into the garden of their home next door.