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
1956
Number of lights
1
Maker
Rope, Margaret Edith Aldrich
Main subject
7 .
The Archangel Michael
6 .
Miraculous draught of fishes
5 .
Rhoda tells the disciples that Peter is at the gate ,
St Christopher, carrying the infant Christ, wades through water ,
Peter goes to the house of Mary the mother of John ,
4 .
Peter confesses Jesus to be the Christ
3 .
St Nicholas of Myra .
An angel appears to Peter in prison, summoning him to wake up
2 .
Christ saves Peter from drowning
1 .
Miraculous draught of fishes .
Peter finds a piece of money in the mouth of a fish and pays the temple tribute .
St Tallanus .
St John the Baptist
Subject type
Narrative
Donor
Mrs Ethel Marjorie Williams,
née Bruce,
wife of dedicatee
Dedicatee
Sqn Ldr Walter Travis Swire Williams, DSC,
died 25th December 1947
Notes
Death of dedicatee,
Western Mail January 1, 1948 p 2 .
Maker’s mark in top left-hand border of window
Drawing of window (in the V & A Museum, London).
A directory of stained glass windows
, p 87. London, The British Society of Master Glass-Painters, 1958 .
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 XLI ,
2017 ,
p 188, London.
The Glass House invoice January 1957 , £121.
In loving memory of Squadron Leader Walter Travis Swire Williams DSC Royal Air Force died on active
service December 25th 1947
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
(John 21:4 ) .
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
Acts 12:12–13 .
Blessed art thou Simon Barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee
but my Father which is in heaven
(Matthew 16:17 ) .
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
(Acts 12:7 ).
O thou of little faith, wherefore did’st thou doubt
(Matthew 14:31 ) .
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
(Luke 5:8 ),
and the semicircle on the right shows Peter holding
a coin from a fish’s mouth
(Matthew 17:24–27 ).
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.