Stained Glass Windows – The East Window

The east window is unique in that, while all the designs in the stained glass have been used in other churches, this is the only window in which they are combined. It has three lights with three roundels above all designed by Edward Burne-Jones.

The Three Marys, the Crucifixion and St. John, St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

The left light has four angels at Christ’s head and the figures of Mary, Mary Magdalene and Mary Clophas at the foot of the Cross.

The central light has a half-profile of Christ on the Cross ministered to by nine angels.

The right light has four similar angels at Christ’s head and figures of St. John, St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus at the foot of the Cross.

The Roundels

The figures in the roundels above the main lights are also of interest.

In the top four-foil tracery roundels there are five winged minstrels playing bells, again from designs by Burne-Jones.

In the first of two three-foil tracery windows there are three winged minstrels playing a dulcimer, a harp, a violin. These were designed by William Morris.

In the second of the three-foil tracery windows, there are again three winged minstrels, this time playing a bulbed pipe, a portative organ and a double pipe; the first two were designed by William Morris and the last by Burne-Jones.

The Subscription

The window has the subscription: qui peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum (who bore our sins in his body on the cross).