The stained glass windows in this, and most congregational churches, are pretty basic. That is except the two above. These, signed by Andrew Stoddart were installed in 1926 as a result of a legacy by the Sarjeant family. We know this from the, church documents, wills and the dedication in each window, along with them being signed by Andrew Stoddart. Despite this very clear and irrifutable evidence, Historic England insist these windows are 19th century, a plainly preposterous claim since Andrew Stoddart wasn't born until 1876!
One of the two Sarjeant windows. These windows were installed by virtue of a 1926 bequest from the Sarjeant family to commemorate the Sarjeant the parents, Sarah and Samuel who played an active part in the life of the church around the late 19th century. The windows are signed by the commissioned artist Andrew Stoddart. We'll post a full a provide of Andrew Stoddart shortly, but as he was born in Scotland in 1876, and did not move south until at last after WWI, these windows cannot, under any circumstances be considered 19th Century as claimed by Historic England, and a statement often repreated by the consultant from Essex Place Service engaged by North Notrthants Council as their "Heritage Expert". Expert, my arse, this individual was unable to tell the difference between oak and pine, and repeatedly made statements to the Planning Inspectorate that she knew to be false.
Husband of Sarah, and father to the children that made the bequest for these windows to be commissioned. Samuel was a prominent member of the United Reformed Church throughout his lifetime.
This and it's pair reside in the former school room which was converted (after a second bequest from another parishoner) to a baptistry in the 1980s. The windows are beautiful, and when the sun shines through from the front they create fabulous displays of colour accross the room.
The room is, eventually, going to be our kitchen and these two windows will create a fabulous focal point, along with the baptism bath. Planning permission has already been granted, no thanks to the council who ignored the application completely, on appeal
Again, typical of Congregational churches, the windows are not particularly intricate. It's highly likely that they were also purchased and installed at the time of the Sarjeant windows, so 1926,
Our original plan was to remove all of the stippled glass rectangles and replace these with clear glass so that we would have more natural light. However, the council decided that they didn't like this idea and without any credible evidence, claimed that this would be historically harmful.
As such, we submitted the latest application and made it crystal clear that the windows would remain intact with no alterations whatsoever. As was to be expected though, the council could not be bothered to even read the application and rejected it again, claiming that we would still be doing historic harm to the windows.
Upstairs windows, again from the same era, are even less intricate than the ground floor.
Of course, the council have no intention of being professional enough to put in even the most basic of effort into working with us in ensuring the long-term future of this property.
Some of the windows on the first floor have been repaired and replaced previously. A number of these repairs have been carried out with plain and clear glass, and some of the leading in the window has also been carried out by a rank amateur.
Fortunately for us, repairs do not require any permission from the pointless council employees and so once we have the application approved (hopefully with this appeal), we will spend the money to bring these back their original format, with professional repairs.
Clearly in a very poor state, some of the frames are so rotten that you can poke your finger through. Again though, logic and common sense are alien concepts for the council who have repeatedly refused to allow us to replace these windows. Perhaps once they finally fall out there will be a semblance of common sense at the council. We are not holding our breathe.
