Last Judgement, St Mary, Fairford

In the west window of the church of St Mary, Fairford, Gloucestershire (see previous post), the stained glass depicts The Last Judgement. In the bottom right is a portrayal of Hell and its denizens. Here the glazier seems to have indulged his imagination and as well as showing the usual horned creatures with pitchforks there is a fearsome two-headed Devil (?) swallowing the condemned souls. Against the dark red background of the glowing fires of hell it makes for an unforgettable image.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Crucifixion, St Mary, Fairford

The stained glass windows in the church of St Mary, Fairford, Gloucestershire, are unique. They fill all the windows of the building in a planned sequence of religious subjects, were made around the same date (c.1500-1505), and were probably designed and made by the same glazier - Barnard Flower, the King's Glazier. The people of the town managed to protect them from the puritanical iconoclasts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and so we are able to appreciate them today. The crucifixion scene above (often called The Passion) is in the top of the east window above the altar.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

St Mary, Fairford, Gloucestershire

The church of St Mary in Fairford, Gloucestershire, can be dated by documentary evidence to a rebuilding of c.1490. Its style is what architectural historians would describe as Late Perpendicular. Noteworthy are the distinctive and very individual sculptures of the exterior, and, on the morning I took my photograph, the warm, creamy Cotswold stone. However, what informed visitors usually come to see at this church is the most complete sequence of stained glass windows of its date in England (see next post).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300