IT started in the dark days of mourning and ended in the bright light of celebration when the stained glass window created in memory of a much-loved priest was dedicated at St Mary’s Priory Church, Abergavenny, by the Bishop of Monmouth in the presence of The Prince of Wales.

Caroline Woollard, former production editor of the Argus, and member of the appeal committee which managed the project, reports on the four and a half year journey of creation.

The Very Reverend Jeremy Winston had been vicar of Abergavenny for 18 years when, in September 2011, he moved to Newport to become Dean of the Diocese of Monmouth in the Church in Wales.

Two months later, aged 57, he was dead, passing away on the morning of the day he was due to start treatment for a malignant brain tumour. Within days, people began to ask about a permanent memorial, so in January 2012, an appeal was launched at his memorial service held at St Mary’s, with around £5,000 being raised on that day.

Initial thoughts included a music scholarship or a simple plaque. However, Fr Jeremy had said in the past that he would love to see the ‘tree’ of the magnificent wooden Jesse figure – one of the greatest treasures in St Mary’s - recreated in stained glass as part of the renovation of the Lewis Chapel in which the figure sits, so the choice was obvious.

The more-than-life-sized Jesse, carved from an oak tree, shows the father of King David lying on his side from which a tree would have sprouted, showing the genealogy of Jesus, together with saints and prophets, depicting the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ. The ‘tree’, thought to have been about 30ft tall, is long gone.

Having decided on a stained glass window, a brief was sent out to members of the British Society of Master Glass Painters and 24 of them submitted their ideas. From those, a shortlist of three emerged with the final choice being Helen Whittaker, the creator of The Queen’s Coronation Jubilee windows at Westminster Abbey and an alumni of The Prince of Wales School of Architecture.

That selection was made in July 2013 and the 18 months between the appeal being launched and the choice of the designer was taken up with local fundraising and initial discussions with the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), which is tasked with ensuring any work – whether that’s creative or functional – within churches in the diocese is carried out sympathetically.

Fundraising over the four years included a concert by Only Boys Aloud; Abergavenny’s Elvis, Keith Davies, singing Gospel in St Mary’s; and a lunch held on the what would have been Fr Jeremy’s 58th birthday at which the speaker was Bryn Meredith, one of the greatest Welsh rugby forwards of all time.

The majority of the nearly £100,000 which the window cost was raised through grants – the largest of those being from the Cottam Will Trust, administered by The Friends of Friendless Churches, of which Fr Jeremy was chairman. The Revd Samuel Cottam, who died in 1943, left a Trust to give grants towards ‘the purchase for the advancement of religion, of objects of beauty to be placed in ancient Gothic churches in England or Wales’.

While all this fundraising was taking place, work on preparing the chapel for the window went on. In January 2014, the stonework which forms the frame of the window space was renovated, enabling Ms Whittaker to take detailed measurements. The window fits into the greater development of the Lewis Chapel, named after Dr David Lewis, of Abergavenny, whose tomb is in the chapel. Born in Abergavenny, Dr Lewis was the first principal of Jesus College, Oxford.

Work refining the final design also carried on and early this year Ms Whittaker started the painstaking process of drawing, painting and firing the many panels of the window.

In the week of June 20, the finished panels of the window were transported from Barley Studios in York and fitted in St Mary’s, with the completed work not being seen by Ms Whittaker until the day before the dedication ceremony.

And on July 7, the window was dedicated by the Bishop of Monmouth, the Rt Revd Richard Pain, in the presence of The Prince of Wales. During his hour-long visit, a relaxed Prince Charles chatted to Ms Whittaker, and to members of St Mary’s choir before having a cup of tea with the appeal committee, contractors, and donors before meeting members of the public as he left.

But the renovation of the chapel, estimated to cost around £250,000 goes on and will include a new roof, lowering the ground level on the north side of the church and creating the chapel as a self-contained space for education, prayer and smaller services.

In the meantime, hundreds of people have come to see the window since the dedication service - it is truly a source of awe and wonder and a fitting memorial to a great man.

THE window consists of five ‘lights’ or panels, each measuring 15ft by 21 inches.

Above those are 20 shaped traceries, increasing the total height of the window by approximately 50 per cent.

The theme of the window is five-fold: Christ, Kingship, Prophecy, the Church and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

The largest image in the window is that of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child sitting on her knee

Other images are:

Two kings – David and Solomon - and four prophets – Isaiah, Nathan, Elijah and Daniel

Moses, Adam, Abraham and Zadok the Priest

Two women – Ruth, great grandmother of King David, a gentile woman, and Bathseheba, mother of Solomon

Seven Celtic Saints

Fruits of the Holy Spirit represented by, among others, apricots, pineapples, cherries and pears

Medicinal plants, which also grow in the Abbot’s garden just outside the chapel

A bumble bee and rare Jersey moth, seen recently in Wales

Twenty-five images from the Advent Jesse tree, which anticipates the birth of Christ, shown in the traceries

A sparrow, chosen to represent Fr Jeremy, who had asked for Lord Hailsham’s poem ‘A Sparrow’s Flight’ to be read at his funeral.