Have you ever wondered about the small roundel of Stained Glass that is at the back of the Narthex of the Chapel? Thanks to our excellent Estate Staff it is now back-lit and visible again. We call it the 'Gethsemane Roundel' but its original title was 'The Agony in the Garden' and it was made by the artist Rosemary Rutherford (1912-72), who was working on religious themes during WW2.

It was gifted to us in memory of one of our Governors in 1981 but was executed by a remarkable, but now largely forgotten, female artist. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund a permanent exhibition will now open and a catalogue is bring made of her works across the country by the Church where her father was Vicar, St. Mary's Broomfield, near Chelmsford.

It is an abstract piece that does not feature the figure of Christ but suggests the ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane and the moon and the distant city walls of Jerusalem.

Article with thanks to our Archivist, Mary-Lou Rowland