Womanhood Window
Douglas Strachan (1875-1850)
1944
All Saints, Jesus Lane, Cambridge
This window by the major twentieth-century stained-glass designer Douglas Strachan shows the Christian virtues displayed by some well-known women: Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845), the Quaker prison reformer; Josephine Butler (1828-1906), another social reformer; Mother Cecile Isherwood (1862-1906), who founded a community in S. Africa, and Nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915), familiar to everyone for her work and execution in World War I. Each of these women is featured in a vignette at the top or bottom of a side panel, the one on the left showing a woman giving charity to the needy, and the one on the right showing a woman visiting a sick person (with a pet dog looking on anxiously).
Shown at the top and bottom of the middle panel are scenes from the New Testament: the Woman at the Well of Samaria, and Mary Magdalene with the risen Christ. Central to all is the Virgin Mary with her infant — and a boy scout. The window is, in fact, full of interest. [Commentary continues below.]
Photographs taken and kindly sent in by Adrian Powter, who retains the copyright. Text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Click on all the images to enlarge them, and mouse over the text for links.]
Left to right: (a) Giving charity. (b) Mary with her infant, and the boy scout. (c) A woman visiting a sick person at home.
We learn from the church guide that the scout in the middle panel was modelled on a Cambridge lad by the name of William Hames, and that the dog in the right-hand one was modelled on Douglas Strathan's Irish Wolfhound, Eilan. In this panel, the Bible lies open at the side of the chair, next to the dog.
The window, closest to the west on the north wall of the nave, was given by a certain John Murrish in memory of his wife, Kate, and her mother, Elizabeth Brown of Jesus Lane. As for the boy scout, Adrian Powter, who took these photographs, reports that Mr Murrish was the first leader of the 12th Cambridge Scout group. That explains a lot!
A selection of the vignettes. Left to right: (a) Nurse Edith Cavell. (b) Mary Magdalene in the garden with the risen Christ (a "Noli Me Tangere" scene). (c) Josephine Butler.
Related Material
- All Saints, Jesus Lane, Cambridge (with links to earlier stained glass, and other points of interest, in the church)
- Memorial to Edith Cavell near Trafalgar Square
- Frank Bell Memorial Window in St Cybi's, Holyhead, N. Wales (also features a boy scout)
Bibliography
Tricker, Roy, and others. All Saints Church. London: Churches Conservation Trust, 2004 (kindly supplied by Adrian Powter).
Created 6 April 2018