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The window looks like a straightforward crucifixion scene, with Christ centrally on the cross and his mother and St John on either side, recalling the word from the cross, 'mother behold your son; son behold your mother'. But compare it with the crucifix over the pulpit which is indeed how we usually picture the crucifixion and you see how different it is.

First, Christ is portrayed not in agony but in majesty. The red robe indicates this and the serenity which could not possibly be historically accurate. This is the Christ of St John's Gospel who shows his glory when 'lifted up'. The artist has portrayed the unseen meaning which St John reveals to us. The message is that Christ is not just our suffering brother to be admired, but our Lord to be obeyed.

Secondly, the cross is of green wood. This indicates the life giving, and salvation giving, quality of the cross. Again outwardly a dead piece of wood bringing death, the cross is shown in the window to be a living source of life, receiving this attribute from the one crucified upon it. The message seems to be, 'here is the one who makes things new, who brings life from death'.

Two other things intrigue me. The one is the hand of God the Father over the cross. This is not unusual in iconography of crucifixion scenes, as it indicates the presence of the whole godhead at Calvary. But I am always puzzled by the fact that the hand is portrayed blessing with another cross behind it. That feature is here in our window, as well as elsewhere.

The other one is the curious but explainable portrayal of St John the Gospel writer on an island. We know it is the Evangelist because of the words on the book he is holding, but the island suggests Patmos, where the author of Revelation was imprisoned. In the Thirties and for centuries before, tradition identified the authors of the two books as one and the same man. So the picture is fitting. But post war scholarship is almost unanimous in saying there were two authors, the language is so different. So the John who stood at the foot of the cross probably never saw Patmos, though tradition does agree that he went to western Asia Minor after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Above the main 'picture' are three irregularly shaped panes. The top one shows the Pascal Lamb, the Lamb of God, a description of Jesus first used by John the Baptist - "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1.29). The Lamb is shown here in a position of triumph with its leg hooked around the pole of a white flag with a red cross.

In the panes below are two shields, containing 14th century glass from an earlier window. On the left is the shield of the Trinity. The Latin words Pater (Father), Filius (Son) and Spiritus (Spirit) form the points of a triangle with the word Deus (God) in the middle. The words non est (is not) run along the sides of the triangle to indicate that the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, neither is the Son the Spirit. The word est (is) runs between the word Deus and the other three to express the idea that, nevertheless, the Father is God, the Son is God and the Spirit is God. The shield on the right contains the symbols of the passion - the cross, the crown of thorns, the spear, the scourge and the nails. Above the Virgin Mary in the main panes is a crowned 'M', a symbol for St Mary, from which we derive the stylised 'M' used as a Parish symbol.

Underneath the main picture are the words "Agnus Dei Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi" (Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world) and below three coats of arms. On the left the arms of the Archbishopric of Canterbury. A gold mitre above a shield with a silver staff topped by a gold cross, white pall edged and fringed with gold bearing four black crosses, all on a blue field (derived from the seal of Simon Islip, 55th Archbishop of Canterbury). In the centre are the arms of the Fletcher family who occupied Ashley House from 1786 until the 1863. Three successive heads of the family, all named Sir Henry Fletcher are buried in the church and the previous east window was erected in memory of the third Sir Henry who died in 1851 (The present window, made in 1938, contains glass from previous windows). On the right are the arms of the Bishopric of Guildford. A gold mitre above a shield with the interwoven symbols of SS Peter and Paul, gold and silver keys and a silver sword with a gold hilt on a red field (taken from the arms of Winchester Diocese of which Guildford used to form a part), surrounded by 10 woolsacks, symbols of Guildford.

Information:
Tim Sedgley &
David Nash
Last changed:
6 November 2003