East window, Church of St James. Twycross, Leicestershire.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Spies returning with grapes (c.1245), east window, Church of St James, Twycross, Leicestershire.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Church of St James, Twycross, Leicestershire

Address

Church of St James, Church Street, Twycross, Atherstone CV9 3PJ

Recommended by

Roger Wilson (10)

Highlight

East window

Artist, maker and date

Mostly 12th and 13th century very well-preserved French glass from the Abbey of St Denis and the Ste-Chapelle in Paris. Installed and assembled by Thomas Willement in the 1840s. Tracery lights a jumble of medieval English glass. Purple borders, rows of triangles by Willement as part of his re-setting.

Reason for highlighting

Excellent central panels of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (c.1145, Abbey of St Denis, Paris), the Deposition from the Cross and Spies returning from the Promised Land with a huge bunch of grapes (Both c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris).

Other comments

A summary of the subject of each of the 12 panels within the three main lights is shown below.

4a A scene from the Life of St Benedict (c. 1140s, Abbey of St Denis)	4b Unidentified glass of possibly Flemish origin (Renaissance period)	4c unidentified scene from the life of St Benedict (c.1140s, Abbey of St Denis)
3a A kneeling monastic figure (c. 1140, Abbey of St Denis)	3b The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (c. 1145, Abbey of St Denis)	3c Kneeling female figure (c.1245, Le Mans?)
2a The people before Moses (c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris)	2b The Deposition from the Cross (c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris)	2c Moses with tablets and burning bush (c.1245, Ste- Chapelle, Paris)
1a John the Evangelist and female (linked to scene on right) c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris)	1b Spies returning with grapes (c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris)	1c The Emperor Domitian (linked to scene on left) (c.1245, Ste-Chapelle, Paris)

Like many church furnishings, the glass was probably purchased by an English dealer following the destruction caused by the French Revolution. Having been in the possession of George III, George IV and William IV, the glass was presented to the church by Sir Wathen Waller, who was eye doctor to the kings and a frequent guest at the nearby Gopsall House [now demolished], the residence of Earl Howe. Twycross is one of the three churches surrounding the Gopsall Estate.

Thomas Willement was one of the first of the Victorian stained-glass artists, reviving the medieval method of composing a window from separate pieces of coloured glass rather than painting pictures on glass with coloured enamels. He was in particular an expert on heraldry, which informed much of his work and restoration.

A rare and complex armorial, probably also the work of Willement, can be seen in the north aisle.