The East Window, by Charles Eamer Kempe in St Cybi's Church, Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales. Installed in 1897, this shows the risen Christ in radiance, and, below, episodes from the Resurrection. It was given in memory of William Watson, Chairman and Managing Director of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (Holyhead is the main seaport for crossing the Irish Sea).
Here we find the soldiers sleeping soundly at the foot of the central light, quite oblivious of the miraculously empty tomb, and Peter and John, to their left, looking wonderingly at it. On the right (see first image), Mary Magdalene in red can be seen with other women listening to the angel at the tomb, her pot of precious oil beside her. The episodes are shown in just the kind of human detail that Kempe liked. In particular, a feature is made of the linen cloth in which the body was wrapped, and which has now been cast aside.
The curly-haired angels in the tracery lights carry scrolls with texts, and are surrounded by smaller lights richly decorated with coloured centrepieces and floral motifs.
Related Material
- St Cybi's Church, Holyhead, North Wales (this gives links to other stained glass windows in St Cybi's)
Photographs taken by Dennis Eaton and (the last one) by Dr J. Ken Roberts, who kindly contributed them to our website. Text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this UR or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Sources
"Church of St. Cybi, Holyhead, Anglesey." Stained Glass in Wales / Gwydr Lliw yng Nghymru. Web. 29 October 2015.
Roberts, Dr. J. K. The History of St Cybi's Church. Holyhead: Anglesey County Council, 2008.
Created 29 October 2015