Addison Embroidery
at the
Vicarage

My brief blogging interlude on the glories of The Cathedral of the Forest having come to an end, back I swing from embroidery on the large and public scale to that on the small and personal level and yes, here I go with more sleeve monograms! These navy on navy Ms I find particularly satisfying because they combine my love of monograms with my current passion for embroidery on sleeves and strangely I find these especially and perversely satisfying as they’re subtle to the point of invisible – catching a sudden glimpse of one is rather like wearing a faceted ring which can at any time catch the light and remind you of why you love it. Once again photographing navy, let alone navy on navy, is pretty much beyond me and what is a perfectly decent fine quality cotton jersey looks little better than a washed out dish cloth. Hey ho!

Monogram M in navy on navy T shirt sleeves (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Perhaps it’s the Diamond Jubilee (and being born in 1952 it might be that we Coronation babies have that little bit more cause to celebrate), perhaps it’s what we hope is the end of Covid at its most aggressive but whatever it is I’ve recently been feeling now is the time to pull out those ideas lurking at the back of the mind and either act on them or jettison them forever. To this end my husband and I are collaborating on a book about John Rushout, 2nd Baron Northwick (1777-1859). Few have ever heard of him and information is alarmingly sparse but he was one of the great connoisseurs of the C19th and he amassed one of the the largest and best collections of art not only of his day but possibly of any time. This collection was housed in the family home, Northwick Park, Blockley (now in Gloucestershire, then in Worcestershire) and also here in Cheltenham at Thirlestane (also spelt Thirlestaine) House which he enlarged in step with the growth of his collection.  That we know so little about such a collection is mainly due to the fact that Lord Northwick, never married, had no children and died intestate in 1859 whereupon everything was sold off with the proceeds divided up between his heirs.

Monogram M in navy on navy T shirt sleeves (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Since the 1970s when my husband came to Cheltenham as the director of the Art Gallery and Museum he has spent much time trying to trace paintings from Lord Northwick’s collection – limiting himself to painting in oil or tempera but not including watercolours, or his collections of prints, coins or furniture. Over the years he has had some success and the results of his (ongoing) research are now catalogued and available for scholarly research in the National Gallery in London. But this is the stuff of a finger tip search through a man’s possessions when the man himself is elusive and only glimpsed at – and even that only occasionally – in the writings of others. So, we are on a mission to find that man.

Monogram M in navy on navy T shirt sleeves (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

The National Gallery in London has 26 paintings which were previously in Lord Northwick’s collection (that we know about) and these include most notably  Botticelli’s Portrait of a Young Man (bought in 1804 as a Botticelli, later attributed to Masaccio and since reattributed to Botticelli) and Raphael’s St Catherine of Alexandria. One of the first collectors of Italian art from the early Renaissance, Northwick was also patron to contemporary painters, including those who were making their names painting pictures and frescoes for the 1835 rebuilding of the House of Commons. Earlier in his life, at the end of 10 years on his grand tour Northwick spent much time in the company of that supreme connoisseur Sir William Hamilton, his wife Emma and also Lord Nelson. He was one of the first to hear the news of the victory of the Battle of the Nile (1798) which he heard from Nelson himself and his interpreting skills were called upon in the controversial court marshal of a Neapolitan Republican leader held by Nelson on board a British ship. Yet much about him is a mystery.

This year I was planning to do some slightly bigger embroidery projects but having been ambushed  by Northwick, I realise this could consume us for a considerable amount of time. I can’t, however, give up embroidery altogether – relaxing and watching television in the evening without some sort of needle in my hands is impossible,  so perhaps it’s time for another alphabet – this time I rather fancy black stitching on white linen.

Restoration of All Saints Newland  continued throughout the 1980s and 90s. The roof was made tight, floors were made safe and those abandoned memorial slabs were dignified with relocation. The organ had also been restored and moved and the addition of new flexible seating allowed the central part of the church to be used for exhibitions and concerts. (When David retired The Royal Forest of Dean orchestra and Monmouth Choral Society  put on a farewell concert which included the 1812 Overture, complete with the church’s own bells and canon fire – all I’m assured done with the utmost concern for maximum safety – both human and  architectural!)

Henry Haig stained glass window in All Saints, Newland, Gloucestershire

Towards the end of the 1990s, David had a meeting with a local family in the church. The husband and father had recently died and mother, son and daughter wished to give something to the church to commemorate him. On being questioned what the church needed and mindful of not wanting to be greedy, David hesitated and was just about to start running through the list of things he knew people liked to give, when Kathleen, the daughter interrupted him with, “Come on, David, what does the church really need?” As it happened they were standing in the St John and St Nicholas Chapel and, bathed in the cold light of a murky and not very pleasant day, David looked up and flung his arm towards the window, saying, “Well, of course, there’s this window!” “Yes, let’s do it,” the daughter said. David, somewhat winded by the reply pointed out that they were talking rather a lot of thousands of pounds which put the family off not an iota and then and there they determined that would suit them very well, with David agreeing it would suit the church very well too.

Henry Haig stained glass window in All Saints, Newland, Gloucestershire

How to do it? With David having experience of the arcane workings of both Church of England and arts administration, he wanted to avoid the church being pushed towards the usual suspects, at least one of whom expected to be first in line for commissions such as this. An open competition advertised nationally in relevant publications seemed the best approach as long as David could form a small team of interested and experienced people who would be willing to examine and evaluate entries – no small commitment. (Last night we caught a programme on the building of the new Coventry Cathedral which reminded us that its design had been awarded in this way.) To their surprise and delight there were about 150 entries, which were then whittled down to four. These four were then invited to prepare more detailed drawings for exhibition in the church where parishioners and local people could come, view them, question the artists and then express their preferences. (One of the four chosen was Simon Whistler, son of Laurence, who like his father produced engraved glass of a unique quality. He came very close. He died in 2005 with the fear that the art he and his father recreated and perfected might die with them as there was no full time course in glass engraving in the country.)

Henry Haig stained glass window in All Saints, Newland, Gloucestershire

The winner was Henry Haig who had come to stained glass after training as painter and sculptor. One of his best well-known commissions was that for Clifton Cathedral in Bristol (1965-1973) where he used the experimental technique called dalle de verre in which chunks of thick, textured glass are set in epoxy resin to create very large abstract panels in a contemporary setting (the building dates from 1973). At the other end of the scale, and very like Newland’s in size, shape and effect, comes the Yvonne Fletcher window in St Leonard’s Church, in Semley, in Wiltshire. (Yvonne Fletcher was killed while on duty during the Libyan Embassy Siege of  1984; the window was dedicated in 1988.) David remembers that on at least one occasion Kathleen and possibly her brother too, visited Henry in his workshop (a converted racquets court) in the Dorset village of Fifehead Magdalen where she was allowed to have a go at stained glass making herself.

Newland’s widow was commissioned by Joan Ludlum in thanksgiving for the life of her husband Henry who had died in 1991. On the day it was to be dedicated, Joan herself died. Their son Edward and daughter Kathleen then expressed the desire that the window should be dedicated to both their parents and this was done on 14  May 2000 by the Bishop of Gloucester.

Do look at the Thomas Becket window of the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Greatford in Lincolnshire, mentioned in a comment below. It was made in 2015 by  Helen Whittaker of  Barley Studio. The black birds are choughs for which bird the heraldic term is a becket. Also note the little sprig of watercress at the bottom of the window which records the fact that the area used to be known for growing watercress. Lovely to read such details pictorially.