St Georges Church, Jesmond, Newcastle
The Stained Glass
St George's Church's stained glass was made
by Gateshead Stained Glass Co, except for the two West aisle windows, by O'Neil
Brothers.

Two beautifully painted windows flank the baptistry at the West End, representing
St Paul (South, left) and St Barnabas (North, right). These windows are a good
example of the genius of T R Spence:at first glance they appear to be fine examples
of gothic design, but on closer inspection one sees the gentle introduction
of art nouveau at the base of each window, and at the top the designs first
seen on the entrance gates are repeated in a different form. Other examples
of this unity of design can be found in other parts of the building, notably
the east window, the lectern and the south windows.
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The west window of the Last Judgement is by J W Brown of London.

Statue of St. George and vanquished Dragon underneath west window
Following ancient tradition the windows of the north aisle contain largely plain
glass, but Spence was not content without some decoration. Each window has a
border of coloured glass and in a prominent position is set a panel containing
a different symbol in each window. Moving from the west end towards the chancel
they are; the shield of St George, the keys of St Peter, a scroll with a fish,
the HIS monogram, a ship, three fish, the fruit and the serpent, the martyr's
crown and an olive branch.
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The East Window illustrates the Birth of Our Lord, with the visitation of the
Shepherds and Wise Men. Like the west window this is the work of JW Brown, but
we have to assume that the original plans were changed, for the glass above
and below the picture panel is quite clearly the work of Spence and contains
the flower heads found in other windows and in the wrought iron entrance gates.
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The central figures in the south windows take themes from the Book of Revelation.
Below these figures can
be seen a curious collection of symbols that bemuse most visitors, these are
taken from a Clog Calendar. In medieval times the unlearned were helped to follow
the passing of the year by means of sticks or four sided logs marked with symbols
to denote the feast days of the Church. Where Spence discovered his information
is not known, nor do we know why he though it appropriate to place a clog calendar
in a suburban church, we can only assume that this was yet another pattern with
which he could enrich his great work. Each individual pane is about 5"
square.
Beginning by the vestry door the windows have the following
symbols:
First Window:
January 1st - New Year : January 6th - The Epiphany
January 13th - St Hilary : January 25th - St Paul
February 2nd - Feast of
the Purification : February 3rd - St Blasius
Second Window:
February 14th - St Valentine : 24th - St Matthias
March 1st - St David : March 2nd - St Chad
March 12th - St Gregory : March 25th - The Annunciation
Third Window:
April 3rd - St Richard : April 23rd - St George
April 25th - St Mark : May1st - St Philip and St James
May 3rd - Invention of the Cross: May 19th - St Dunstan
Fourth Window:
June 11th - St Barnabas : June 24th - St John the Baptist
June 29th - St Peter : July 2nd - Visitation of the Virgin Mary
July 15th - St Swithun
: July 20th - St Margaret
Fifth Window:
July 22nd - St Mary Magdalen : July 25th - St James
August 1st - Lammas Day : August 6th - The Transfiguration
August 10th - St Laurence the Deacon : August 24th - St Bartholomew
Sixth Window:
September 1st - St Giles : September 16th - St Edith
September 21st - St Matthew : September 29th - St Michael
October 13th - St Edward
the Confessor : October 18th - St Luke
Seventh Window:
October 28th - St Simon and St Jude : November 6th- St Leonard
November 11th - St Martin : November 20th - St Edmund
November 23rd - St Clement
: November 25th St Catherine
Unfortunately there is no window to commemorate the feasts of December. Some
of the symbols used in the Clog Calendar are easy to interpret, for example
the keys of St Peter or the harp of St David, but many are less easy to discern.
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