Polperro, St John the Baptist
Nave north 1
Entries in grey are not obtained from documentary evidence, but are inferred from content, context, etc.
- Date of manufacture and insertion
- Number of lights
- 1
- Maker
- Rope, Margaret Edith Aldrich
- Main subject
-
7. 6. 5. , , , 4. 3. . 2. 1. . . . - Subject type
- Narrative
- Donor
- Mrs Ethel Marjorie Williams, née Bruce, wife of dedicatee
- Dedicatee
- Sqn Ldr Walter Travis Swire Williams, DSC, died
- Notes
-
- Death of dedicatee, .
- Maker’s mark in top left-hand border of window
- Drawing of window (in the V & A Museum, London).
- .
Gives location as
S. side.
- Rope, Arthur, Work of ME Aldrich Rope (Tor) in Cornwall, listed as 1960.
- Brooks, Alan; Cormac, Peter. The Lowndes & Drury Archive. The Journal of Stained Glass, Volume , , p 188, London. The Glass House invoice , £121.
In loving memory of Squadron Leader Walter Travis Swire Williams DSC Royal Air Force died on active service
7. St Michael slays the dragon. St Michael is the patron saint of fighter pilots, and the window is in memory of an RAF officer. The cock and the keys in the circular segments are symbols of St Peter.
The mark of the window’s maker, Margaret Edith Aldrich Tor
Rope,
(a tortoise and her initials) appears near the top of the window in the left-hand border.
When the morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore ().
6. Jesus appears to Peter and the other disciples who have been trying unsuccessfully to catch fish.
Rhoda, S. Peter
5.
In the centre is St Christopher, carrying
the child Jesus across the river. The semicircle on the left shows Rhoda telling the disciples that Peter
is at the gate; the semicircle on the right shows Peter knocking on the door of the house of
Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark
; (the door has John Mark
written on it), from
.
Blessed art thou Simon Barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in heaven ().
4. Christ blesses Peter.
3.
In the centre is St Nicholas (he has
Nicholas
written around his collar), the patron saint of fishermen and sailors, blessing children.
The linked semicircular sections show the angel releasing Peter from
his chains in prison
().
O thou of little faith, wherefore did’st thou doubt ().
2. Peter attempts to walk on water.
1. In the linked semicircle on the left Peter falls at Jesus’ feet after his nets are filled with fish (), and the semicircle on the right shows Peter holding a coin from a fish’s mouth ().
In the centre is a fishing boat with seagulls above it; Polperro is a Cornish fishing village. In the bottom left-hand corner is Talland church (Polperro is in the parish of Talland) with the figure of its patronal saint, St Tallanus, and in the bottom right-hand corner is Polperro church with the figure of its patronal saint, St John the Baptist.