There is glass in this window (in the north west transept west window) from three periods. The original glass in this window was donated by John Barnewell (d 1478), the London merchant who provided the priory with salt fish. This glass is in the tracery immediately above the main lights and shows three coats of arms, namely those of the City of London, the Salt Fishmongers’ and the Barnwell family.
The upper lights in the tracery are all that remains of the 19th century glass of the Annunciation, the main lights were destroyed in WWII. The main lights were replaced in 1953 by the well known church architect, Sir Ninian Comper, and paid for by the Freemasons of Kent, in memory of George VI. The upper register shows the 1953 Coronation scene with, in the first light, the Lords Spiritual : Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of York together with the Bishops of London and Winchester. In the second light, the Queen is shown with the young Prince Charles whilst in the third light the Duke of Edinburgh is accompanied by Princess Anne as a child. The final upper light shows the Lords Temporal: the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord High Chamberlain and the Earl Marshall.
The lower register portrays, as in the 1937 coronation, King George VI with his Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, and Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II, and the late Princess Margaret.
Ninian Comper identifies his work at the bottom of the light with Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, by including a small strawberry plant being Comper’s mark, his father was very fond of the fruit (Image 2)
What to see:
- The Queen as at her coronation, upper register second light (Image 3)
- The queen, as Princess Elizabeth at George VI’s coronation, is in lower register first light (Image 4)
- The late Queen Mother, as at George VI’s coronation, in the lower register third light with a strawberry plant at her feet (Image 5)
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