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Gentleman's Magazine 1849 part 1 p.377
through the doorway of the close oaken wainscot which
separates the vestry from the south aisle.
The east window of the north aisle, known as the Hulton
window, from its having been put up at the cost of a
gentleman of that name resident in the neighbourhood, has
illustrations of the Adoration and the Transfiguration. Amid
the variegated tracery which adds to the expression of this
window are also noticeable the heraldic bearings and name of
the generous-minded donor, by whom, together with a full,
handsome silver gilt service of plate for the altar, it was
offered as a further enrichment to the church.
The adjoining window on the north side of the same aisle is,
from the name of its donor, likewise a gentleman resident in
the vicinage, called the Spedding window, and engages
attention for the gracefulness of its drawing, and the
chaste richness of its colouring. It is of three lights: the
first is adorned with the figure of the Virgin Mary, holding
her emblem, the lily, in one hand, and a bible in the other,
with this text at her feet: "Ecce ex hoc beatam me vocant
omnes generationes;" the second light has the Saviour of the
world, bearing the sceptre and the globe, surmounted by a
cross, with this sentence underneath: "Ego sum resurrectio
et vita;" and in the third light is Saint John, with the
eagle and a reed in his hands, and the words "Ecce filius
tuus" at his feet. Beneath the figure of the Saviour is a
circle, bearing on its outer rim an inscription, setting
forth by whose generosity this handsome and impressive
addition to the fenestral decoration of the hallowed fane
was given.
The sixth or remaining stained glass window, called "The
Memorial Window," is the second from the east end of the
south aisle. It was put up at the charge of the
parishioners, as a testimonial to perpetaute their grateful
appreciation of the liberality and estimable qualities of
the restorer of the church; and the story its pictorial
imagery tells, is by the subscribers felt to be not less
truthfully applicable than worthily merited. The window is
of three lights, each adorned with two subjects taken from
the sacred page. Those in the first light are illustrative
of the following sentences in Matthew, chap. XXV. 35: "I was
an hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave
me drink." The second light displays subjects from the same
Evangelist, verses 35, 36 of the same chapter: "I was a
stranger, and ye took me in; I was naked, and ye clothed
me;" - and in the third light are illustrations from the
same chapter and verse: "I was sick, and ye visited me; I
was in prison, and ye came unto me." Running underneath the
whole, the following text from the same inspired writer,
verse 40, - "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me," - forms a significanet and fully acknowledged
enumeration of the virtues and benevolent disposition of the
individual to whose honour this window was set up. Affixed
on the ledge of the window beneath is a brass tablet, on
which the following record is engraved:-
"A Memorial Window by the Parishioners, gratefully to
commemorate the munificent restoration and embellishment of
this Church by James Stanger, esquire.
A.D. 1845.
The Rev. JAS. LYNN, Vicar.
HENRY WOOD, GEORGE WILLIAMSON, Churchwardens."
In the second window from the east end of the north aisle is
the half-length figure of that eremite Saint Antony, with
his bell and book, in ancient stained glass, the colours of
which have all faded except the black and bright yellow, but
leaving the outlines of the countenance and habit still
clearly visible.
But, rich and pleasant to behold, and wooing to high
devotional feeling, as the interior is, that which crowns it
with transcendent interest is the monument of the late
Robert Southey, whose mind, an Argosy laden with the
treasures of wisdom, and whose life, all virtue, through the
long years of his residence, had knelt in lowly-minded piety
and prayer within these sacred walls, the majesty of
intellect, and innocence chastened by the spirit of
religion, humbling itself, to quote his
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