All Saints, Wilden
At first sight the church of All Saints at Wilden, just to the north east of Stourport on Severn, may not appear to be anything out of the ordinary, a humble Victorian brick church with a bellcote, consisting solely of single aisle nave and chancel with little structural division. But within lies one of the most beautiful sets of windows in the Midlands, a complete scheme by Morris & Co from designs of Edward Burne Jones, dating from 1902-14.
The church itself was built in 1880 by the architect W.J.Hopkins and funded by Alfred Baldwin, whose family church this became; they lived nearby and were major industrialists, owning the nearby ironworks. Baldwin was married to Louisa MacDonald, whose three sisters also had notable marriages, to John Lockwood Kipling (father of Rudyard), the artist Edward Poynter and, most significant of all here, Sir Edward Burne Jones. This collaboration of dynasties resulted in the superb windows at Wilden church, though all were installed after the death of Burne Jones himself.
A detail of the east window appears to show the Archangel Raphael with the young Tobias from the Old Testament story, though the boy is reputedly a likeness of Alfred Baldwin's son and Burne Jones's nephew, the future Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
The windows are exceptionally beautiful and richly reward a visit to this unassuming building. Most are designs reused from the great stock of Burne Jones's drawings held by Morris & Co, and which appear in many other windows across the country. A particularly notable two-light window has his familiar figure of Joshua in armour, balanced by a charming panel of pure foliage (apparently arising from a problem with indecision on the part of the donors as to who should be portrayed here, but a very happy accident I think).
The church is generally kept locked except for the first saturday of each month (and school holiday wednesdays), otherwise an appointment will be necessary to gain entry.
This was my 2nd visit, and I inadvertently turned up an hour early, but as luck would have it the nice lady opening up the church that morning also arrived an hour early (owing to there being a wedding later that day) so in the end my timing couldn't have been better (and she very kindly made me a cup of tea too, so hospitalitiy here was much appreciated! :-)
All Saints, Wilden
At first sight the church of All Saints at Wilden, just to the north east of Stourport on Severn, may not appear to be anything out of the ordinary, a humble Victorian brick church with a bellcote, consisting solely of single aisle nave and chancel with little structural division. But within lies one of the most beautiful sets of windows in the Midlands, a complete scheme by Morris & Co from designs of Edward Burne Jones, dating from 1902-14.
The church itself was built in 1880 by the architect W.J.Hopkins and funded by Alfred Baldwin, whose family church this became; they lived nearby and were major industrialists, owning the nearby ironworks. Baldwin was married to Louisa MacDonald, whose three sisters also had notable marriages, to John Lockwood Kipling (father of Rudyard), the artist Edward Poynter and, most significant of all here, Sir Edward Burne Jones. This collaboration of dynasties resulted in the superb windows at Wilden church, though all were installed after the death of Burne Jones himself.
A detail of the east window appears to show the Archangel Raphael with the young Tobias from the Old Testament story, though the boy is reputedly a likeness of Alfred Baldwin's son and Burne Jones's nephew, the future Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
The windows are exceptionally beautiful and richly reward a visit to this unassuming building. Most are designs reused from the great stock of Burne Jones's drawings held by Morris & Co, and which appear in many other windows across the country. A particularly notable two-light window has his familiar figure of Joshua in armour, balanced by a charming panel of pure foliage (apparently arising from a problem with indecision on the part of the donors as to who should be portrayed here, but a very happy accident I think).
The church is generally kept locked except for the first saturday of each month (and school holiday wednesdays), otherwise an appointment will be necessary to gain entry.
This was my 2nd visit, and I inadvertently turned up an hour early, but as luck would have it the nice lady opening up the church that morning also arrived an hour early (owing to there being a wedding later that day) so in the end my timing couldn't have been better (and she very kindly made me a cup of tea too, so hospitalitiy here was much appreciated! :-)