Appendix 2: Stained Glass Windows in St Mary's

Chancel

East window. This commemorates Matilda Roberts (nee Allix) who died in 1877, the year before the restoration of the chancel: It shows Christ in Majesty surrounded by angels, saints and others, as well as by symbols of divinity as described in the Revelation of St John the Divine. Notice the seven lamps of the tabernacle, the lake of fire and, in the lower part of the window, St Michael and St George.

South east window. Scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. This window was made in 1843 for St Cyriac's church and moved here in 1878. It commemorates Mary Catherine Elizabeth Allix who died in 1842 at the birth of her first child. The face of Mary at the feet of Christ (bottom left light) is a portrait of her. Compare its youth and sweetness with the more solemn and characterless face of Martha, standing to her right.

South west window. Representations of Gideon, Joshua, Abraham and David. Dedicated to Colonel Charles Allix of the Grenadier Guards, who died in 1862. He fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo. His Waterloo sword used to hang below the window, where the mountings can still be seen. This window was also removed from St Cyriac's in 1878.

South Aisle

East window. The Cherub window, recalling the 20 cherubim destroyed here by William Dowsing and dedicated to Marianne Allix who died in 1867. This window and the Psalm window next to it were composed of glass from St Cyriac's. The angels, the symbols of Alpha and Omega and the IHS monogram came from the upper sections of the east window and the south transept (Allix pew) windows in St Cyriac's. This explains the angels carrying shields with the Allix arms. Notice also the seraphim illustrating Isaiah Chapter 6:v2. "Each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face and with twain he covered his feet and with twain he did fly."

South east window. An illustration of Psalm 91, "Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." This window contains glass originally forming part of Col. Charles Allix's window and the figure in the bottom left-hand light is said to be a portrait of him. It was designed by Mrs Jones-Mortimer, sister-in-law to Mrs C P Allix. This window and the Cherub window were made by T F Curtis of Ward and Hughes, London.

South window. The Window of the Great Commandment. This was designed and given to the new church of St Mary's by C P Allix in memory of his aunt, Juliana, who died aged 90. She was the last of three sisters who were long resident in the parish and "conspicuous for their many acts of charity" in the words of Lawrence Fisher. At its dedication the choir sang Psalm 122: "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord."

South window II and south west window. The two Benedicite windows were given in honour of John Peter Allix, vicar of the parish, and his son Charles Allix, both buried at All Saints church, Castle Camps. Designed and donated by C P Allix, they were dedicated on the Sunday after Easter 1914, when the donor explained the subject matter. A choir of mortals on earth is singing the Benedicite while angels above them sing a corresponding refrain. Starting at the bottom left of the Left-hand window the subjects are: 1 Jacob's ladder; 2 Eclipse of the sun by the moon; 3 Four winds (copy of a tombstone in the churchyard. The figure at the top signifies a hurricane); 4 The stars; 5 Eruption of Vesuvius in 1771; 6 Greenland glacier, taken from an illustration in Sir James Geikie's book The Great Ice Age; 7 Aurora (a lark) chases away night (an owl); 8 A flash of lightning; 9 Earth and moon. Right-hand window: 1 Mount Pilatus, Lucerne, Switzerland; 2 Earth's green mantle; 3 Whales, porpoises, shark, walrus, seal, nautilus; 4 Golden eagle, hawk, crane, pheasant, swallow, kingfisher, robin, sparrow - In the left corner Swaffham Prior House, on the right the two windmills on Mill Hill; 5 Animals; 6 Races of man: in the centre Edward VII, with him a North American Indian, an Eskimo, a Chinese, a Dyak from Sarawak, the Prime Minister of the Sultan of Borneo, a Kaffir chief; 7 Priests as on the stage at Oberammergau (L - R): Jewish High Priest, Coptic Archbishop of Jerusalem, Bishop of London, Archbishop of Canterbury robed for the Coronation, Pope, Patriarch of the Greek Church, Melchizadek; 8 The souls of the righteous resting under the altar, taken from two drawings by the Arundel Society and from the Cassels Illustrated Family Bible, 9 Ananias, Azarias and Misael (from Cassels). Across the bottom of the windows are the words of the opening verse in Latin: "Benedicite omnia opera Domini Dominus, laudate et superexaltate eum in secula."

West window. The Nunc Dimittis window is a memorial to Catherine Wilkinson (nee Allix) who died in 1873 aged 90. The figure of Anna on the right is a portrait of her. The window illustrates the presentation of the infant Christ in the temple. The elderly priest, Simeon, recognises the child as the Messiah and says "Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." This window was moved from St Cyriac's in 1907 by Mr Curtis of Ward and Hughes but considerably altered. The angel with the scroll at the top, the figure of the virgin, part of Simeon's drapery and the canopies and background in both lights are new.

North Aisle Windows

These windows are the village war memorial dedicated, together with the stone cross, in December 1919. The two left-hand ones are War windows and the right-hand one is the Peace window (notice the introduction of green glass which suggests the promised "green and pleasant land"). The windows were designed and the captions chosen by C P Allix, using cuttings from his scrapbooks. He was very interested in machinery, particularly aircraft - and, perforce, the engines of war. The windows have been criticised by today's generation as being in bad taste. Perhaps Lawrence Fisher also had moments of doubt and should be given the last word: "We feel sure that the two War Windows and the Peace Window will be objects of much interest. It is doubtful if anything of the sort will be seen elsewhere." A programme based on these windows was broadcast in 1995 by BBC Radio 4 in its Document series.

South west window. The theme is weapons. Starting from the bottom of the left hand side, the panels illustrate: 1 The call to war (Joel 3:v9); 2 Shell factory (Eccl.9:v10); 3 Howitzer (Is.25:v4); 4 Liquid fire (Acts 2:v19); 5 Zeppelin (Ps.91:v5); 6 Tank ("the window is an exact copy taken from the Imperial War Museum photograph No. C0988 of a Mark 1 tank, showing a most unusual feature... the drum or bobbin arrangement which can be seen above the cradle of the tail wheels. Does any reader know what this device is for?..." extract from a letter to The Tank 1969.) (2 Sam.23:v7); 7 German aeroplane, believed to be a French-built SPAD) fighter, used by both British and American forces (Amos 9:v2); 8 Field telegraph tent (Ps.19:v3); 9 Captured dugout (Amos 9:v2).

South central window. The means of mitigating the horrors of war: 1 Motor field kitchen, with Red Cross workers (Is.40:v1); 2 Water pipeline across Sinaitic Peninsula during the invasion of Palestine (Is.35:v6-7); 3 YMCA hut (Matt.22:v39); 4 German submarine mine layer (Amos 9:v3); 5 British submarine (Ps.107:v23); 6 Sinking of Lusitania, mines on sea bed (1 Cor.11:v26); 7 Red Cross hospital in French house (Gen.2:v18); 8 Military chaplain (John 14:v27); 9 Statue of Liberty (Is.2:v4).

Text across the bottom of these two windows from Revelation Chapter 14:v13.

South east window. Illustrates Peace: 1 Christ, the good shepherd (Ezek.34:v31); 2 Ploughing (1 Cor.9:vlO); 3 Agricultural industry - gathering grapes, milking, wood-cutting, digging, grinding corn, carting (Deut.16:v15); 4 Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:v5); 5 Sheep, cattle and camels feeding (Ps.104:v10-11); 6 Watering sheep (Ps.23:v2); 7 Harvesting (Ps.65:v14); 8 Threshing with oxen (1 Cor.9:v9); 9 Harvest on earth and in heaven - left-hand corner an angel, right-hand corner the Saviour as described in Rev. 1:v18 - "I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for ever more".