Catholic Church of the Holy Family and St Michael, Kesgrave, Suffolk
Address
Catholic Church of the Holy Family & St Michael, Main Road, Kesgrave, Suffolk IP5 2QPTheme
Overview
The cousins Margaret Agnes Rope (1882-1953) of Shrewsbury (professional name: Margaret Rope, later Sister Margaret of the Mother of God) and Margaret Edith Aldrich Rope (1891-1988) of Leiston (professional name M E A Rope or M E Aldrich Rope) were prominent international stained-glass artists in the Arts & Crafts idiom. Their work can be seen in many churches and other buildings in England, Scotland and Wales as well as in Australia, Italy, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and the USA.
Although their lives and styles diverged, they worked together at the start of their careers and again right at the end of the elder Margaret’s life.
Highlight
Eight windows by Margaret A Rope and three by M.E Aldrich RopeArtist, maker and date
Designed by Margaret Rope and M.E Aldrich Rope, and made at Lowndes & Drury, 1928-57Reason for highlighting
This is a wonderful Church with a strong connection to the Rope family. The church began as a memorial chapel to Margaret Agnes Rope’s brother, Squadron Leader Michael Rope and the 47 others, who died with him in the wreck of HM Airship R101 at Allonnes near Beauvais on 5th October 1930. Both Rope cousins were fine Arts & Crafts artists as the number, quality and diversity of their work here shows.
Other comments
A bonus is the collection of Margaret Rope cartoons framed on the walls and other works by Rope family artists.
Contact in advance: 01473 728115 or 01473 333288
Artist/maker notes
Margaret Agnes Rope (1882-1953) was born in Shrewsbury and studied at the Birmingham School of Art, where – within a range of disciplines – she studied stained glass under Henry Payne. After the death of her father she joined the Roman Catholic church, and her faith became an overwhelmingly important focus of her life and work.
She began working from home, before moving to work at Lowndes & Drury in London. Initially, she directly supervised the work, but in 1923 she became a Carmelite nun. She continued making windows at the Monastery, sending the glass by train to Lowndes & Drury to be cut, fired and leaded up.
Margaret Edith Aldrich Rope (1891-1988) was born in Suffolk and studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Central School of Arts & Crafts, where she specialised in stained glass under Karl Parsons and Alfred J Drury. More prolific but less intense than her cousin, her style evolved considerably during her career, from one somewhat similar to her cousin’s to something plainer and more impressionistic.
Sources:
The Margaret Rope Stained Glass website
Margaret Rope of Shrewsbury by Arthur Rope (Pangapilot Publications, 2016)
The Two Margaret Ropes: Arts and Crafts Stained Glass Artists by Arthur Rope (Blurb, 2017)
Margaret Rope of Leiston: Arts and Crafts Stained Glass Artist by Arthur Rope (Blurb, 2017)
Lowndes & Drury was founded in 1897, by the artist Mary Lowndes (1857-1929) and the craftsman Alfred John Drury (1868-1940), with the aim of providing facilities for independent artists to design and make stained glass windows. They moved from cramped conditions in Chelsea to newly purpose-built premises, The Glass House, in 1906. The firm continued after the founders’ deaths, under Alfred Drury’s son, Victor, until he retired in the early 1970s. However, The Glass House premises continued in use under Carl Edwards and subsequently his daughter, Caroline Benyon, until she moved her studio to Hampton in1992.
Source The Journal of Stained Glass, Vol. XLI, 2017
Comments by
Arthur Rope