Memorial

Stained Glass Window 1914-18 St. Peter

Wallsend

Memorial Name: Stained Glass Window 1914-18 St. Peter (W7.18)

NEWMP Ref No.: W7.18

Parish: Wallsend

Original Location:

St. Peter’s Church, Church Bank / North Terrace.
Junction of Central Avenue and Quadrant.

Which War:

1914-18

Dedication, Creation or Publication date:

Unveiled March 19th, 1922 by Mr. Summers Hunter, C.B.E., Chairman and Managing Director of North Eastern Marine Engineering Co.;
dedicated by Ven. Blackett Ord, Archdeacon of Lindisfarne.

How Money was Raised:

Public subscription “without any money raised from sales or entertainments”

Present Condition: Restored recently

Sculptor, Artist or Designer:

Tower of Glass, Dublin, under the leadership of Miss Purser.

Inscription:

None. See W7.04

Memorial Description:

Two stained glass windows, each of three lights.

The westerly light has the Archangel Michael at centre, with St. George on the left and St. Christopher on the right, with the text “Thy Brother shall rise again”.

At centre foot is the Borough coat of arms, with a sea scene on the left and a woman tending a wounded man on the right.

The easterly window depicts Jesus in centre, joining his disciples in their boat having walked across the sea to get there, with the text “It is I, be not afraid”.

The accompanying plaque is described in W7.04

Names:

None

Notes:

1. The window was smashed in 1923 by a man who, it was alleged, attacked the verger after visiting the church for prayer.

2. “The cost of the two windows is being met solely by subscriptions and donations from relatives of the fallen and other friends and members of St. Peter’s without any money raised from sales or entertainments, except for incidental expenses.”

3. Angela Conroy says: “One of the lady workers at the Church told me a story about the Church going to be demolished in the 1990s. She said a schoolgirl had written to the Queen about this and apparently the Queen had got in touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Their was a public outcry and a huge amount of money was brought forth from some organisation (I can’t remember which one now) and the building was able to be stabilised and saved.”

Sources:

Photos: Ralph Gould; Tony Harding

Illustrated Chronicle
18/03/1922 reports proposed unveiling;
20/03/1922 reports unveiling.

Newcastle Daily Chronicle
17/03/1922 reports proposed unveiling next Sunday.

Newcastle Weekly Chronicle
18/03/1922 reports proposed unveiling;
25/03/1922 reports unveiling;
31/03/1923 reports breaking the window.

Northern Echo
24/03/1923 and 26/3/1923 report breaking of window with a photo showing the broken window of Jesus in the boat.

Shields Daily News
20/02/1922 reports the unveiling;
26/03/1923 reports the smashing of a war memorial window by Peter Thom of Peebles, who was ordered to be removed to Morpeth Asylum.

South Shields Gazette
23/03/1922 reports unveiling.

Diocese of Newcastle Faculty
No. 742, 07/04/1921.

Source of quotations:
“Thy Brother shall rise again”. John 11: 23. The story of the raising of Lazarus.
“It is I, be not afraid”. John 6:20. Jesus walks across the sea to join the disciples on their boat.