Stained Glass Tours in EnglandSherrill, Charles Hitchcock
History
Stained Glass Tours in England
Sherrill, Charles Hitchcock
Cathedrals -- England; England -- Description and travel; Glass painting and staining -- England
Most visitors find it difficult to escape speedily from the fascinations
of Cambridge, and if some of our pilgrims be minded to make a short stay
in these erudite surroundings, we will remind them that there are, not
far away, three pleasing bits of glass, and all of them Trees of
Jesse--one of the Perpendicular period at Margaretting, about fifty
miles south-east in Essex, another one of the same period at Levrington,
thirty-three miles north in Cambridgeshire, and a Decorated example of
the same subject at Lowick, thirty-six miles west in Cambridgeshire. The
Margaretting window is of three lancets and displays twenty-two figures,
each with its own label, and together affording a peculiarly interesting
study of costume. Don't fail to notice how deftly the glazier has
concealed the fact that the same cartoon is made to serve for several
figures by facing them about, or varying the colour in the costumes. The
handling of the whitish vine and the use of leaves is very artistic.
The Levrington window has five lancets, and its Tree of Jesse is larger
and has more figures than the one at Margaretting; it shows the marks of
careful restoration. Including the figures in the tracery lights, there
are sixty in all--an unusually large number. Each figure is placed
within a loop of the deep orange-coloured vine, these enclosures being
about 12 by 8 inches. This great company of personages, and the
agreeable harmony of colour, make this window well worth a visit.
Lowick Church does not have to rely alone upon its stained glass, but
has many other attractions, such as its fine tombs, elaborately carved
pew-heads, wooden ceiling, and last, but not least pleasing, the
venerable prayer-books, dated 1724 and still in their original bindings,
ornamented by coloured coats of arms on the covers. There are some
heraldic panes along the south side of the chancel, but the chief
interest for us is in the very fine series of sixteen personages
originally forming a Decorated Tree of Jesse, but now stationed along
the upper lights on the north side of the nave. The drawing is good and
the colouring strong, with as yet no trace of stain, the frequent
touches of yellow being of pot-metal glass. The four most westerly
figures are kings, and the eastmost is a knight in full armour, his
head, arms and legs being covered with chain-mail. In his hands he holds
a model of the church, upon which can be distinctly seen these windows,
thus clearly indicating that he was the donor.
LICHFIELD
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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