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In a report to the Southern Unitarian Association in 1959, Mr. James Fray, Secretary of the Southampton Church, spoke of money granted from the War Damage Commission to replace the three stained glass windows destroyed when the church was ‘blitzed’. At first it had been hoped that £1226.00 would be available but eventually the sum offered was £539.00.
However the congregation persisted with their intention to construct the windows and Mr. Fray stated that the architect, Mr. Keyworth, had been authorised to proceed with the contract.
The person most involved in this project and most determined to see it carried through was Mrs. Margaret Fray, wife of the secretary. She was a women of decisive views and strong personality who had been brought-up amongst the Unitarians of Bolton, Lancashire. As a young woman she had attended classes at the local art school and was, therefore, happy to find this opportunity to use her skills.
Although the congregation had approved the scheme, it was largely left in Mrs. Fray’s hands to decide on the content of the windows and she regarded it as an opportunity to express the spirit of what she assumed were the general principles of Unitarianism.
The central figure is of Jesus
surrounded by young children and the presence of a black child
amongst them is quite deliberate. The theme is a safe one and
brakes no comment on the basic beliefs of orthodox Christianity.
Around it in the borders appear various objects, all of which have been standard Christian symbols since medieval times : the anchor representing hope and steadfastness; the book (the Bible) religion, though here, perhaps, a reference to the old ‘Bible-based Unitarianism’ which remained strong in the north of England; the hands in prayer are clearly a reproduction of Durer’s famous painting.
The two symbols which may raise questions now, the chalice and the phoenix with the word “Resurgam” are a good examples of the changes which lie within the use of symbolism unless one remains alert to the changes of history. Nowadays to Unitarians, the flaming chalice has close links with Czechoslovakian Unitarians and their brave stand during the years of early Nazism and the Second World War but, in 1959, this was not an interpretation which meant anything to English Unitarianism as a whole and it is much more likely that the chalice stood for the symbol of orthodox Christian faith and Communion, though Communion was not a regular practice in the congregation even then.
congregation after the disaster of 1940. and the long struggle to remain in being.
When the window was finished it was put in position high up in the liturgical East end of the new church, where, on the whole it could be ignored or forgotten. It was not a great work of art but it did not force itself upon anyone’s attention.
When we decided to rebuild our church, the question arose what should we do with the windows? The proportions of the new building meant that we could not use them as windows and it was the architects suggestion that they should occupy the position where they are now enhancing what would, otherwise, have been a rather dull plain wall, and lit by their own illumination.
The result of this is to make a clear and vivid statement from what was originally the sort of feature which Pevsner would have been very dismissive about if he had been called to comment on it. Many people enjoy and admire the result; others probing the theology behind the symbolism are baffled about what it says of Unitarian thinking in the twentieth first century. To me, who knew the congregation before and after the destruction of the church, it remains a challenging symbol of a faith which will not accept defeat and, as such, it has a value far beyond its artistic merit.
Emily Bushrod
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