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Serving God in
the heart of our community since 1881
St
Andrew's Church, Taunton |
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Click here for a larger picture
Stained glass in St.
Andrew's:
The North Aisle
The booklet produced by
Mary Balmforth ends with her observations on the window above the font,
and makes no reference to the windows in the north aisle. The
limited information below, and that on the Railway Window on the next
page, has been obtained by Adrian Smith.
Click
each small picture to see a larger image.
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The
first window in the north aisle consists of one stained glass
light in the centre, with clear glass to either side. This
is the one remaining glass panel from a window in the Outer
Vestry which was destroyed by vandalism in 1997. It is of the
martyrdom of St. Andrew.
The other two
panels from the vestry window were damaged beyond repair and the
window was replaced by relatively clear glass. This remaining
panel was moved into the body of the church so that it could be
better seen. |
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The
glass of the second window of the north aisle contains figures
of St. Michael and angels, and is in memory of C. L.W.H. Alms,
R.A.F, died 1926. |
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The
third window of the north aisle depicts scenes from before,
during and after the Crucifixion. |
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In
the left light are St. John, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Mary
Magdalene. They watch as Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns,
carries his cross towards Calvary, overseen by a Roman soldier.
The words under the window say 'Bear ye one another's burdens'. |
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The
centre light shows the Crucifixion, and in addition to the
central figure of Jesus on the Cross, includes images of the
Blessed Virgin and St. John.
The words
beneath say 'He was wounded for our transgressions'. |
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The
right hand light shows Jesus being taken down from the Cross,
with the Virgin, St. John, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Joseph of
Arimathea and Nicodemus. The words beneath: 'Be thou faithful
unto death'. |
Next page
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Vandalism at St.
Andrew's: our former Vicar Revd. Julian Smith recollects:
There was, indeed,
vandalism to the windows in 1997. Sue Tucker (Curate at the
time) had not been with us long when, one Monday morning, she
discovered the chaos when she unlocked for morning prayer.
There was continued damage to the windows during the week and
the episode ended with a police chase and the apprehension of
the person who had done it, who was, sadly, mentally unwell.
The main
casualties were the window in the outer vestry and the St
Martin's window by the curtains. Also damaged were the next
window towards the west on the north side and the 'Christmas'
windows on the south side. If you look closely at the windows
you'll see that the artwork of the repairs does not match the
quality of the original - on the north side, the repaired Cross
does not match the original, on the south side Elizabeth has
'odd' feet. You'll quickly pick up what was damaged if you
study the windows.
The decision was
made fairly quickly not to try to replace the vestry window, as
two sections were damaged beyond repair or reconstruction, but
to replace it with clear-ish glass allowing much needed light
into the vestry. The remaining panel - probably part of a
series on the martyrdom of St Andrew was removed to its current
position in the north aisle.
St Martin was a
bit of a mystery, as there seemed to be no other link with him
at St Andrew's. However, look at the memorial tablet in the
right hand wall of the window and we might find a clue. I
suspect that the link is with the Boy's Brigade, Church Lad's
Brigade or whatever - and that the window commemorated a member
who died young.
The present
window - The Railway
Window - was intended to cover 3 bases - our link
with the School, which celebrated its 125th birthday; with the
railway, (St A's is the railway church); and the millenium,
hence the text from Daniel. Like all good images it crosses
time - today's children stand on today's bridge and look at an
engine that was scrapped before their parents were born.
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