Stained Glass Windows

SOUTH TRANSEPT

The window was the gift of the second Viscount Leverhulme. The inscription reads:-
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF WILLIAM HESKETH, FIRST
VISCOUNT LEVERHULME, AND IN HONOUR OF THOSE
IDEALS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY THAT WERE IN HIS MIND
WHEN HE BUILT AND ENDOWED THIS CHURCH

The window represents the main streams in which English church life has flowed since the Reformation – Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist.
In the first light there is a picture of THOMAS CRANMER, the first Bishop of the Reformed Church, with a small picture suggesting the making of the Book of Common Prayer.
In the second light there is a picture of JOHN ROBINSON, the minister of the historic Congregational Church that met first at Scrooby in Lincolnshire, but which was driven into exile in Holland whence many of its members, known to history as The Pilgrim Fathers, sailed for America. The little picture shows the Pilgrim Fathers saying farewell to their minister and friends as they are leaving Holland. The ship in the background is the Speedwell in which they sailed to Southampton where they stayed until they finally left England, sailing from Plymouth in the Mayflower.
The third light contains a picture of RICHARD BAXTER, the learned and saintly Presbyterian, who until the passing of the Act of Uniformity was parish minister at Kidderminster, and who wrote among other books “The Reformed Pastor” and “The Saint’s Everlasting Rest” The little picture suggests his trial for Nonconformity before the notorious Judge Jeffreys.
The fourth light contains a portrait of JOHN WESLEY, the best known leader of the Evangelical Revival and the founder of the Methodist Church. The little picture shows him preaching outside his father’s church at Epworth.
Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist – and binding them together our Lord’s prayer “That they may all be one”.

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NORTH TRANSEPT

The window is the gift of the First Viscount Leverhulme. The inscription reads:-

TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES DARCY LEVER BORN AT BOLTON 10TH FEBRUARY 1854 WHO DIED AT THORNTON HOUGH 29TH MARCH 1910 ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF LEVER BROTHERS AND A DIRECTOR SINCE ITS INCORPORATION TO 1898

A picture of the children in the temple. “But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying in the temple and saying ‘Hosanna to the son of David’ they were moved with indignation and said unto him ‘Hearest thou what these are saying?’ and Jesus said unto them ‘Yea, did ye never read, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfect praise’.”

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EAST END WINDOW

Panorama View

The window is in memory of the parents of the First Viscount Leverhulme. The inscription reads:-
TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES AND ELIZA LEVER, PARENTS OF THE FOUNDER OF PORT SUNLIGHT, WHO WISHES TO PLACE ON RECORD THE FACT THAT PORT SUNLIGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE OF REALISATION BY HIM WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF THEIR EXAMPLE AND CAREFUL TRAINING

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Left Side Window

The left window containing the words “Suffer little children to come unto me” is an illustration from the gospels of mothers bringing their children to Jesus. Children were very important to Viscount Leverhulme and even more so to his wife.

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Centre Window

The centre window is an illustration of the Ascension.

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Right Side Window

The right window containing the words “Damsel, I say unto thee arise” is an illustration of the miracle of the raising of the daughter of Jairus. Higher up in the window we see the famous words from John’s gospel “I am the resurrection and the Life”.

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WEST END WINDOW

The window is the gift of the first Viscount Leverhulme. The inscription reads:-

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF LADY LEVER
BORN 4TH DECEMBER 1850 DIED 24TH JUNE 1913
SHE LIVED FOR THOSE SHE LOVED AND BY HER SWEET INFLUENCE MADE THIS VILLAGE AND WORKS POSSIBLE OF REALISATION. SHE CONTINUES AN INSPIRATION FOR ALL WHO LOVED HER AND LOVE HER ALWAYS

In the centre a picture of Our Lord’s parents finding him in the Temple “his mother kept all these things in her heart”.
On the left a picture of Ruth and Naomi at the moment when, Orpah having decided to return to Moab, Ruth is saying to Naomi “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodges: I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me”.
On the right a picture suggested by verses in the description of “The Ideal Housewife” in the Book of Proverbs, chapter 31 “Her children rise up and call her blessed: her husband also, he praiseth her”.

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SIDE AISLE WINDOWS

Both windows in the side aisles are the work of Ervin Bossanyi, ABS, MGP. Bossanyi was born in Hungary in 1891 and died in London in 1975. His work is highly prized and is frequently characterised by its byzantine style as here. Other notable examples of his work can be found in Oxford, Canterbury Cathedral, York Minister, and The Goldsmith’s Library in London as well in South Africa, Germany and the USA.

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South Side Aisle Window (1949)

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF
HAROLD ROBERT GREENHALGH 1879 – 1948
THIS WINDOW IS DEDICATED BY HIS WIFE AND FOUR DAUGHTERS

“THE SOWER, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, THE GOOD SAMARITAN”

BOSSÁNYI wrote “My first idea was to let appear in the centre, The Good Shepherd, as the lightest colours, and to surround it with the flowering contrasts of red and blue. The Sower is the contrast to the ‘Carrier of Light’, he is upright and strong for he is the sower of millions of seeds, some of which will germinate and grow. The Good Shepherd is surrounded by a colour representing the desert by night, a slightly turquoise green, the deepest blue in the three heart shaped cores. The Good Samaritan is the personification of Charity. His one hand holds the invigorating wine, his other hand the cooling sky-blue bandage. In the traceries, with the doves, I just wanted to say, with a little variation, ‘Heaven on earth’.”

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North Side Aisle Window (1950)

THIS WINDOW IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM HULME, 2ND VISCOUNT LEVERHULME WHO DIED ON 27TH MAY 1949 AGED 61 YEARS

“COME UNTO ME”

This window portrays the figure of Christ in the centre summoning to himself the sick and suffering.