St Barbara's new stained glass window
After many years of planning and deliberation St Barbara’s Church has a new
stained glass window above the children’s corner.
The original commission for the window was from Dorothy Cope who chose a
picture of the boy Jesus teaching in the temple. Dorothy was a long-standing
member of the congregation and for many years headmistress at Earlsdon Primary
School. The costs of the project were met by bequests from Dorothy Cope and Gwen
Ball. Gwen was also a long-standing member of the congregation, and her sisters
Elsie and Esme were Sunday School teachers.
Derek Hunt, the artist commissioned to design and install the window, works from
his studio in Leicestershire. He is also an accredited stained glass
conservationist and sits on several national committees. After consultation with
our small committee, Derek produced the design and commenced work at his studio.
There are various themes running through the finished article that span the
traditional associations of St Barbara and also local interests. For example, in
the left hand panel the St Barbara's motif of cross, chalice and host, is set in
the upper section with Alpha and Omega. At the bottom of the panel there are
three motifs of local significance. The cat and the owl remind us of the two
donors: Gwen Ball loved cats; the owl was Dorothy Cope’s favourite bird. The
depiction of the Earlsdon clock is set at 10 o'clock (the time of our main
Sunday service) and is placed there to represent Earlsdon's watch making
heritage.
The
central panel uses a palate of rich and pale blues, with the Holy Spirit in the
form of a dove. The centre of this panel stands out in amber and gold and shows
the boy Jesus in the Temple with the Torah (sacred scrolls of the scriptures)
and the seven branched candelabrum that illuminates the Torah. The right hand
panel uses deep and pale reds, synonymous with the blood of the martyrs,
celebrating the life and martyrdom of St Barbara. The tower in which St Barbara
was imprisoned by her father is represented here together with three windows
representing the Holy Trinity, put in at her insistence. St Barbara is patron
saint of anyone who works at risk of sudden and violent death. This includes
artillery gunners, hence the gun in this panel, together with miners, tunnellers,
masons, stone cutters and others.