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‘Weep not for me your sighs and tears are vain’
In the quiet leafy churchyard of St. Everilda’s church in Nether Poppleton I came across this beauty: Husband farewell and earthly friends adieu What in my power I’ve done for you My debt is paid, sec urely now I rest And trust through Jesus’ merits be blest Weep not for me your sighs and tears are vain I hope in heaven we all shall meet again The headstone is written in memory of Jane Bewley, wife of John Bewley of the city of York. She died at the age of 51 on 22 January 1703. Like many headstones this one is losing out in its battle against time and weather…
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‘But it’s only a jumble of fragments!’ – Investigating one stained glass panel
Not worthy of attention? Some stained glass panels and whole windows are dismissed because they have no clear subject matter, are a jumbled mess and are difficult to date. In this post I discover that a small, jumbled and confused stained glass panel can tell an important story about its history and interesting science-y facts about its composition and degradation. The panel pictured comes from the church of St. Peter’s in Barton-upon-Humber and is one I worked on as a portfolio project for my degree. It has a chequered history which I enjoyed piecing together – and is certainly worthy of attention! The Task To investigate the history and significance…
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Redisplaying the Houfe Memorial Chairs
In a damp cupboard in a little old North Yorkshire church, sat two dusty chairs… In 2015 we received a letter expressing deep concern about the whereabouts of a pair of chairs which had been donated by an ancestor of the letter writer. She had been to Allerton Mauleverer church and not seen the chairs. She wanted to know where they were! In some confusion I set about their discovery. The wooden chairs in question were made and presented to the church by ‘M.E.A. Houfe’, in memory of her mother and father, in 1902. They have beautifully carved backs, with intricate patterns and details of birds. The Houfe memorial…