Mary Lowndes, east window (1909), Church of St Peter, Great Cheverell, Wiltshire.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Mary Lowndes, detail of east window (1909), Church of St Peter, Great Cheverell, Wiltshire.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Church of St Peter, Great Cheverell, Wiltshire

Address

Church of St Peter, Church Lane, Great Cheverell, Wiltshire SN10 5TH

Recommended by

Sasha Ward (10)

Highlight

East window

Artist, maker and date

Mary Lowndes, 1909

Reason for highlighting

This east window has an incredible presence in the church. It’s not so much the decorative details that draw you in, but the monumental figures. The Mary and Martha panel is the best, astonishing painting over the people, their clothes, the surrounding flowers and around the organic border.

Other comments

There is a second window by Mary Lowndes in the south wall of the nave.

If planning a visit, please note that there is another St Peter’s at Little Cheverell, which Google Maps tends to select.

Artist/maker notes

Mary Lowndes (1857-1929) was the daughter of Canon Richard Lowndes, vicar of Sturminster Newton, Dorset. She studied at the Slade School of Art, before gaining practical experience at Britten & Gilson, where she was introduced to and became influenced by the work of Christopher Whall. Later, with Britten & Gilson’s former head glazier, Alfred J Drury, she established Lowndes & Drury as a facility for independent glass artists. She was also active in the Women’s Suffrage movement.

Source: The Artists of the Glass House by Alan Brooks and Peter Cormack, The Journal of Stained Glass, Volume XLI, 2017.

Highlighted dates at this location

1909 (Go to date search)

All artists mentioned at this location

Lowndes, Mary