The History of All Saints' Tudeley by Mary Neervoort-Moore

Author:Mary Neervoort-Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The History of All Saints’ Tudeley
ISBN: 9781784420604
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

The late-nineteenth-century font (moved to the north aisle in the 1966 reordering).

Potter’s restoration involved moving the font from the nave to the north aisle and reducing the level of the chancel and sanctuary floor by some 12 inches; this resulted in the removal of the two steps which had divided the nave from the chancel and the three steps in front of the communion rails which led to the sanctuary.

The stone slabs of the sedilia in the south-east window were reset to a height of some two and a half feet above the new floor level so as to form a credence in the sanctuary and the late-nineteenth-century flooring tiles of the nave, chancel and west tower were replaced with London stone pavers and York slabs.

At the same time the antiquated heating system was removed and electric under-floor heating introduced, the funds for this having been raised by members of the congregation and people in the village.

The sombre dark pews, together with the choir and clergy stalls, were removed, and in their place were installed pews and clergy seats in wood of light ash with soft olive-green kneelers. At the same time, the fine seventeenth-century pulpit and the handsome eighteenth-century communion rails were carefully restored and returned to their original positions.

In the redecoration of the building particular care was given to the cleaning of the barrel ceiling; this revealed the delicate marbling which may date from the eighteenth century as described earlier.

Following these changes the restored church provided the perfect setting for the memorial east window. At the dedication in December 1967 Chagall, seeing his completed work in its setting for the first time, exclaimed ‘C’est magnifique, ferai les tous’ (‘It is magnificent, I shall do them all’), and, going on to associate himself with the long-dead church builders, said, ‘It is a very curious thing, but dead architects are the only ones I can work with’.

The Tudeley window was the first commission in stained glass which Chagall had been willing to undertake in England. Recognising the rarity of the offer to do all the windows Sir Henry then asked him to prepare designs for all the windows and at the same time commissioned him to prepare the seven windows for the nave – the two large windows on the south wall of the nave and the five smaller windows in the north aisle. Abstract in design, they were completed between 1968 and 1969 and dedicated in October 1974. By then Chagall was in his eighty-eighth year and understandably there was some anxiety as to whether his physical strength would enable him to complete the overall plan he had presented to Sir Henry in 1967. With this in mind Lady d’Avigdor-Goldsmid commissioned the remaining four windows, which it was hoped would take the place of the existing glass in the chancel.

Shipped to England, the four window panels remained in packing cases for nine years. Meanwhile, more and more visitors were coming to see the Chagall works of art which were already in place.

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