The East Window by Nathaniel Westlake (1888) dominates the chancel and Holy Trinity Church in Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
Easter Day on Sunday (9 April 2023) ushered in all our hopes and joys.
I was expecting a post-stroke consultation at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford later today. However, this has been postponed due to the strike by junior doctors in the NHS.
But, even before this day begins, I am taking some time early this morning for prayer, reflection and reading. In these days of Easter Week, I am reflecting each morning in these ways:
1, Short reflections on the stained-glass windows in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton;
2, the Gospel reading of the day in the lectionary;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
The East Window:
Over the past two mornings, I have described six windows in the nave and transepts of Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, by Daniel Bell of Bell and Almond and Henry Holiday of James Powell and Son depicting: the Nativity, Christ in the home of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph; the baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist; the Resurrection; the Supper at Emmaus; and Pentecost.
For the rest of this week, I am looking at the East Window in the chancel. This spectacular Rose window by Nathaniel Westlake in 1888, with eight lobes around a large central circle dominates the chancel and the whole church.
This window was the final element in the scheme of decoration in the church carried out from 1870 on under the supervision of the Stony Stratford-born architect Edward Swinfen Harris.
The window provides a magnificent climax to the interior of Holy Trinity Church, unfailingly drawing the attention of worshippers and visitors to the high altar, above which it hovers like a great rising sun.
The window depicts the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary and Saint John, Christ with an inner circle depicting the Disciples at the Last Supper, the Passover story, and two other scenes from the Exodus story; the middle circle depicts key six Biblical figures – Amos, Daniel, Job, David, Jeremiah and Isaiah – and two IHS symbols; the outer circle is crowned with the Risen Christ at the top, and a symbol of the Holy Trinity beneath, and contains six Biblical scenes that are Eucharistic allegories: Adam and Eve, Abel’s sacrifice, Noah’s sacrifice, Melchizedek’s sacrifice, Abraham’s sacrifice, and the Tree of Life in the Book of Revelation.
The stained glass artist NHJ Westlake (1833-1921) also completed many of the windows in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. He worked under William Burges for a while before joining the stained-glass firm of Lavers and Barraud in 1868.
Nathaniel Westlake later became a partner and finally the sole proprietor of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake (1855-1920s), a London-based firm established in 1855 by Nathaniel Wood Lavers (1828-1911). The firm changed its name several times with the arrival and departure of each partner. Francis Philip Barraud (1824-1900), who moved from James Powell and Sons, became a partner in 1858. Nathaniel Westlake joined in 1868, having designed for the firm since 1858.
After Barraud died in 1900, the firm was known as Lavers, Westlake and Co, although Westlake had been the sole proprietor since 1880. After 1909, the company became NHJ Westlake, London, and moved to Maida Vale in 1917, before closing in the 1920s.
The East Window provides a magnificent climax to the interior of Holy Trinity Church in Old Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
John 20: 11-18 (NRSVA):
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
The East Window depicts the Crucifixion surrounded by Biblical figures and scenes, an image of Christ the King and symbols of the Holy Trinity (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Today’s Prayer:
The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘USPG’s Lent Appeal: supporting young mothers affected By HIV.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday by USPG’s Fundraising Manager, Rebecca Allin, who reflected on the 2023 Lent Appeal supporting young mothers affected by HIV, and their children.
The prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (11 April 2023, Tuesday of Easter Week) invites us to pray:
Let us pray for a deepening of our faith. May the light of Easter shine in our hearts, illuminate our minds, and inform our actions.
Collect:
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Post Communion:
God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
The East End and East Window of Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton, seen from the church grounds (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
11 April 2023
John Fell’s monument in
Christ Church, Oxford, recalls
a well-known rhyme
The monument to Dr John Fell in the Ante Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Patrick Comerford
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr Fell.
Many of us grew up learning this well-known Mother Goose nursery rhyme. As adults, some of us now have reasons to find it less comforting and more frightening – after all, the author Thomas Harris uses the name of Dr Fell as a pseudonym for Hannibal Lecter in the novel Hannibal when this frightening character poses as a library curator in Florence.
I have written about Dr Fell in the past in Three Spires and the annual report of the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral, and I have discussed his career and legacy during a guided tour of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield many years ago organised by Lichfield Discovered. So, I was interested last week to see again the monument to Dr Fell in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
John Fell (1625-1686) is regarded as one of the greatest of Deans of Christ Church. A notable reformer, he remains the only man to have been both Dean and Bishop of Oxford at the same time.
He is commemorated by a large monument on the south wall Ante-Chapel of Christ Church that was moved there from the Latin Chapel in the 19th century. His statue appears on the south side of Fell Tower in Tom Quad, and, uniquely, his portrait appears twice in the Great Hall.
John Fell was born at Longworth, Berkshire, on 23 June 1625, the son of Samuel Fell who became Dean of Christ Church in 1638, and Margaret (née Wylde). He was just 11 when he became a student at Christ Church in 1637.
That year, his father was appointed the Dean of Lichfield Cathedral. Dr Samuel Fell (1584-1649) had been Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and at an early stage he had been a Calvinist in his religious views. He complained to William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, about the excessive number of alehouses in Oxford. But he later changed his theological position and became an active ally of Archbishop Laud.
Laud rewarded Fell’s loyalty by securing his appointment as Dean of Lichfield in 1637. Fell succeeded John Warner (1581-1666), a staunch monarchist who had been Dean of Lichfield and chaplain to Charles I since 1633. Warner had left Lichfield on his appointment as Bishop of Rochester, and so Fell could have expected his move to Lichfield came with the promise of rapid progression in his clerical career.
Fell had a varied earlier career that included parishes in the Isle of Wight and time as a chaplain to King James I before beginning on an academic career in Oxford.
Samuel Fell moved to Lichfield at the beginning of 1638, but stayed at the cathedral for only a short time. He returned quickly to Oxford after a few months when he became Dean of Christ Church later in the year.
Back in Oxford, Fell also became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. On the outbreak of the Civil War, he became a prominent royalist, and was deprived of all his offices by the parliamentarians. He died in Oxford on 1 February 1649, two days after the execution of King Charles I.
Tom Tower and the Quad at Christ Church Oxford … Dean John Fell moved the ‘Great Tom’ Bell to its present place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Meanwhile, John Fell obtained his MA at Oxford in 1643, was ordained deacon in 1647 and priest in 1649. During the English Civil War he fought for the King. When the King was defeated, Fell was deprived of his Studentship (fellowship) in 1648 and for the next few years lived with his brother-in-law, Thomas Willis, in a house opposite Merton College, where in private he maintained the proscribed Anglican services in the outlawed Book of Common Prayer.
Fell was promoted immediately on at the restoration in 1660. He was made a Canon of Christ Church on 27 July 1660 and four months later, on 30 November, he became Dean. He quickly ejected all those displaying puritan sympathies from the college.
Fell was a highly capable administrator, restoring good order in the college following the Cromwellian era and Puritan administration. He attended services in the cathedral four times a day, reintroduced an organ and insisted on proper academic dress and high standards. He also laid out he large Broad Walk, between the river and the Meadow Gate of the college.
On one occasion, the satirist Tom Brown (1663-1704), author of The Dialogues of the Dead, was threatened by Fell with expulsion from Oxford unless he was able to translate immediately the 32nd epigram by the Roman poet Martial that opens with the line ‘I do not love thee Sabidi’. To Fell’s approval, Brown responded with the now well-known verse:
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr Fell.
Fell worked on the fabric of the college, and completed the north side of ‘Tom Quad’ in 1665. He engaged Christopher Wren to complete ‘Tom Tower’ in 1681-1682, and the great bell, ‘Great Tom’, was recast and moved from the cathedral to ‘Tom Tower’ in 1683.
Fell was also the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1666-1669, promoted the use of the Sheldonian Theatre for university events, and supported the work of the Oxford University Press, where a type of font still bears his name.
While he was Dean of Christ Church, Fell was appointed Bishop of Oxford in 1676. He was consecrated Bishop of Oxford in 1676, but remained Dean of Christ Church, and as bishop, he rebuilt the Bishop’s Palace at Cuddesdon. Some years later, he turned down the opportunity to move to Ireland as Archbishop of Armagh.
John Fell died in 1686, aged 61, and was buried beneath the Dean’s stall in the Latin Chapel in Christ Church.
As for Great Tom, it chimes 101 times at 9.05 pm and this has a double purpose. The first is to signal the curfew for students to return to college – this still continues even though students are no longer bound by a curfew. The second is to mark the 100 Students (or fellows) attached to the foundation by Henry VIII, plus the additional Student added by bequest in 1663.
It rings at 9:05 pm, which corresponds with 9 pm Oxford time – although Greenwich Mean Time was formally adopted nationwide in 1852, Christ Church steadfastly retained ‘Oxford’ time, five minutes behind GMT. This has had some curious effects: dinner, for example, which the statutes say should begin at 7:15 pm, actually starts at 7:20 pm.
Great Tom occupies it share of Christ Church mythology. A long-serving Head Porter recalled attempts to run around Tom Quad while midnight was being struck – a feat he never saw achieved. Another porter, charged with the task of tolling the 101, felt a drink might aid his task. It did not: he repeatedly lost count of the number of times he had tolled, forcing him to start again. Curfew must have been later than usual that evening.
John Fell was both Dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford (from a portrait by Peter Lely)
Patrick Comerford
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr Fell.
Many of us grew up learning this well-known Mother Goose nursery rhyme. As adults, some of us now have reasons to find it less comforting and more frightening – after all, the author Thomas Harris uses the name of Dr Fell as a pseudonym for Hannibal Lecter in the novel Hannibal when this frightening character poses as a library curator in Florence.
I have written about Dr Fell in the past in Three Spires and the annual report of the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral, and I have discussed his career and legacy during a guided tour of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield many years ago organised by Lichfield Discovered. So, I was interested last week to see again the monument to Dr Fell in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
John Fell (1625-1686) is regarded as one of the greatest of Deans of Christ Church. A notable reformer, he remains the only man to have been both Dean and Bishop of Oxford at the same time.
He is commemorated by a large monument on the south wall Ante-Chapel of Christ Church that was moved there from the Latin Chapel in the 19th century. His statue appears on the south side of Fell Tower in Tom Quad, and, uniquely, his portrait appears twice in the Great Hall.
John Fell was born at Longworth, Berkshire, on 23 June 1625, the son of Samuel Fell who became Dean of Christ Church in 1638, and Margaret (née Wylde). He was just 11 when he became a student at Christ Church in 1637.
That year, his father was appointed the Dean of Lichfield Cathedral. Dr Samuel Fell (1584-1649) had been Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and at an early stage he had been a Calvinist in his religious views. He complained to William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, about the excessive number of alehouses in Oxford. But he later changed his theological position and became an active ally of Archbishop Laud.
Laud rewarded Fell’s loyalty by securing his appointment as Dean of Lichfield in 1637. Fell succeeded John Warner (1581-1666), a staunch monarchist who had been Dean of Lichfield and chaplain to Charles I since 1633. Warner had left Lichfield on his appointment as Bishop of Rochester, and so Fell could have expected his move to Lichfield came with the promise of rapid progression in his clerical career.
Fell had a varied earlier career that included parishes in the Isle of Wight and time as a chaplain to King James I before beginning on an academic career in Oxford.
Samuel Fell moved to Lichfield at the beginning of 1638, but stayed at the cathedral for only a short time. He returned quickly to Oxford after a few months when he became Dean of Christ Church later in the year.
Back in Oxford, Fell also became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. On the outbreak of the Civil War, he became a prominent royalist, and was deprived of all his offices by the parliamentarians. He died in Oxford on 1 February 1649, two days after the execution of King Charles I.
Tom Tower and the Quad at Christ Church Oxford … Dean John Fell moved the ‘Great Tom’ Bell to its present place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)
Meanwhile, John Fell obtained his MA at Oxford in 1643, was ordained deacon in 1647 and priest in 1649. During the English Civil War he fought for the King. When the King was defeated, Fell was deprived of his Studentship (fellowship) in 1648 and for the next few years lived with his brother-in-law, Thomas Willis, in a house opposite Merton College, where in private he maintained the proscribed Anglican services in the outlawed Book of Common Prayer.
Fell was promoted immediately on at the restoration in 1660. He was made a Canon of Christ Church on 27 July 1660 and four months later, on 30 November, he became Dean. He quickly ejected all those displaying puritan sympathies from the college.
Fell was a highly capable administrator, restoring good order in the college following the Cromwellian era and Puritan administration. He attended services in the cathedral four times a day, reintroduced an organ and insisted on proper academic dress and high standards. He also laid out he large Broad Walk, between the river and the Meadow Gate of the college.
On one occasion, the satirist Tom Brown (1663-1704), author of The Dialogues of the Dead, was threatened by Fell with expulsion from Oxford unless he was able to translate immediately the 32nd epigram by the Roman poet Martial that opens with the line ‘I do not love thee Sabidi’. To Fell’s approval, Brown responded with the now well-known verse:
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr Fell.
Fell worked on the fabric of the college, and completed the north side of ‘Tom Quad’ in 1665. He engaged Christopher Wren to complete ‘Tom Tower’ in 1681-1682, and the great bell, ‘Great Tom’, was recast and moved from the cathedral to ‘Tom Tower’ in 1683.
Fell was also the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1666-1669, promoted the use of the Sheldonian Theatre for university events, and supported the work of the Oxford University Press, where a type of font still bears his name.
While he was Dean of Christ Church, Fell was appointed Bishop of Oxford in 1676. He was consecrated Bishop of Oxford in 1676, but remained Dean of Christ Church, and as bishop, he rebuilt the Bishop’s Palace at Cuddesdon. Some years later, he turned down the opportunity to move to Ireland as Archbishop of Armagh.
John Fell died in 1686, aged 61, and was buried beneath the Dean’s stall in the Latin Chapel in Christ Church.
As for Great Tom, it chimes 101 times at 9.05 pm and this has a double purpose. The first is to signal the curfew for students to return to college – this still continues even though students are no longer bound by a curfew. The second is to mark the 100 Students (or fellows) attached to the foundation by Henry VIII, plus the additional Student added by bequest in 1663.
It rings at 9:05 pm, which corresponds with 9 pm Oxford time – although Greenwich Mean Time was formally adopted nationwide in 1852, Christ Church steadfastly retained ‘Oxford’ time, five minutes behind GMT. This has had some curious effects: dinner, for example, which the statutes say should begin at 7:15 pm, actually starts at 7:20 pm.
Great Tom occupies it share of Christ Church mythology. A long-serving Head Porter recalled attempts to run around Tom Quad while midnight was being struck – a feat he never saw achieved. Another porter, charged with the task of tolling the 101, felt a drink might aid his task. It did not: he repeatedly lost count of the number of times he had tolled, forcing him to start again. Curfew must have been later than usual that evening.
John Fell was both Dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford (from a portrait by Peter Lely)
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