Farre Well All Ye Tell You Come To Me

Brasses are hard to photograph because of they're immoveable, reflective and often located in out of the way places. This is my second attempt at this one. It's screwed to the reconstructed north wall of St Mary's Leigh (pronounced Lie) in what is almost certainly not its original position. There was no-one about, so I took my shoes off and stood on the seat of the pew to get it squared up.



I don't know who's being commemorated. The date is late 16th century (if I knew more about women's fashion I could be more exact) and the design, to the best of my knowledge, is unique.

Three National Saints

This window in Leigh church commemorates Lieutenant Godfrey Hine of the Irish Guards who was killed at Loos in 1915. It's the work of the prolific stained glass artist Archibald Keightly Nicholson. I'm not saying it's anything more than a typical example of the ecclesiastical art of its period, but I find the iconography interesting and touching.



In the centre we have St Patrick for Ireland- and he's flanked on either side by St Joan for France and St George for England. I haven't come across this particular arrangement before- and the writer of the church's entry on the British Listed Buildings site agrees that it's unusual. Given that Joan is sporting a halo and wasn't officially canonized until 1920 I'm guessing the window was installed in the early nineteen twenties.

Like most English people I love St Joan.