DOI Artikel:
Parello, Daniel; Szybisty, Tomasz: A fourteenth-century panel of heraldic stained glass from Annesley Old Church (Nottinghamshire) in a private collection in Cracow
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51154#0119
118
Fig. 1. Shield of arms of the Annesley family, 2nd half of the 14th cen-
tury, originally in Annesley, the Old Church, currently in a private
collection based in Cracow. Photo: G. Eliasiewicz
the founders having been granted a royal licence by King
Edward III, the chantry was confirmed by John Thoresby,
archbishop of York. It was also stipulated that in the event
of the extinction of the house of Annesley, the family’s
right of presentation was to become void and be trans-
ferred to Felley Priory, which already held patronage of
the church. It is further worth mentioning that Robert de
Annesley was uncle of Sir John (III) de Annesley, whose
manor was situated close to the church at Annesley.
A manuscript record of 1748 attests that at the time
the east window of the chantry chapel displayed scenes
of The Birth of Jesus, The Adoration of the Magi, and The
Crucifixion, and that at the foot there was an image of
the windows donor, presumably Sir John III de Annes-
ley, with his wife and daughter.* * 3 To date, it has not been
possible to ascertain how this scheme relates to the four-
teenth-century one. The same record further makes men-
tion of heraldic stained glass occupying the upper section
of the window, probably the second row of tracery com-
partments: the arms of Annesley (‘Paly of six argent and
azure, overall a bend gules’), flanked by those of Fitzwil-
liam (‘Lozengy gules and argent, 3, 3, 1’) and Stapleton
(Argent a lion rampant sable’).4 * * * * In addition to the panels
Annesley (who had died of the plague in 1357) and his wife Anne.
See J.C. Cox, Notes of the Churches of Derbyshire, vol. IV, Chester-
field and London, 1879, pp. 39-47; and idem, A parochial chartu-
lary of the Fourteenth Century’, The Ancestor, 6,1903, pp. 103-118.
3 London, British Library, Add. MS 5832, fol. 223 (dated 30 Janu-
ary 1748). The text is quoted by P.A. Newton, Schools, vol. Ill,
p. 400 (as in note 1).
4 Ibidem. The identification of the coats of arms deviated from the
information given by R. Thoroton (Thorotons History, p. 269,
in the east window described, other windows are men-
tioned, some of them also featuring heraldic motifs. The
characteristic design of the east window’s tracery (com-
prising four rows of identical quatrefoil compartments),
together with a reasonably detailed 1930s inventory of
the stained glass transferred from its original locations
at Annesley Old Church to the church at Holme, admit
the proposition that the representations of the Virgin and
Christ, both enthroned {The Coronation of Mary), origi-
nally featured in the third row; the lowest row would have
featured images of angels.5
Completion of a new church in Annesley in 18746 led to
gradual dilapidation of the old church.7 A handful of facts
pertaining to the stained glass when still in situ in the lat-
ter building can be found in the report of a scientific field
trip undertaken in June 1912.8 A photograph of the east
wall9 of the chantry chapel shows that the Annesley arms
were still visible at that time, in the central tracery com-
partment in the second row.
In 1932, at the initiative of Nevil Truman, Associate of
the British Society of Master Glass-Painters, the chap-
el’s east window tracery was stripped of all its remaining
stained glass, including the depictions of the Virgin and
as in note 2). On the discrepancy, see P.A. Newton, Schools, vol.
Ill, p. 406 (as in note 1). See also E. Trollope, ‘The Churches of
Mansfield and other Parishes visited by the Society on the 23rd
and 24th of June 1874’, Associated Architectural Societies Reports
and Papers, 12, part II, 1874, p. 170.
5 N. Truman, Ancient Glass in Nottinghamshire’, Transactions of
the Thoroton Society, 51,1947, pp. 50-65; the key section relating to
Annesley is quoted by the Southwell & Nottingham Church His-
tory Project: http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.ac.uk/
annesley-old-church/hglass.php [retrieved 1 August 2019]. Tru-
man supposed that the angels ‘once held thuribles thrown above
their heads’. In his landmark work on medieval stained glass in
the Midlands, Newton attributed the remnants of the stained
glass from the church in Annesley now at Holme to the ‘Mas-
ter of Dronfield’; see P.A. Newton, Schools, vol. I, pp. 57-61 (as
in note 1). The workshop responsible for this glass was active
around 1370; the same workshop also created the glazings in Oke-
over, Lockington and North Winfield, which are characterised by
a constantly recurring repertoire of models. Norton believed that
the stained glass executed for Annesley was among the latest in
this group.
6 ‘Church of All Saints’, Historic England, https://historicengland.
org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1275939 [retrieved 1 August
2019].
7 J.C. Cox, The Churches of Nottinghamshire, London, 1912, p. 22.
8 A.M.Y. Baylay, Annesley Old Church’, Transactions of the Thoro-
ton Society, 16,1912, this article available in its entirety at: Notting-
hamshire History: Resources for local historians and genealogists,
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1912/summer/an-
nesleyoldchurch.htm [retrieved 1 August 2019].
9 Also reproduced at http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.
ac.uk/annesley-old-church/plcewin1912.jpg [retrieved 1 November
2019].
Fig. 1. Shield of arms of the Annesley family, 2nd half of the 14th cen-
tury, originally in Annesley, the Old Church, currently in a private
collection based in Cracow. Photo: G. Eliasiewicz
the founders having been granted a royal licence by King
Edward III, the chantry was confirmed by John Thoresby,
archbishop of York. It was also stipulated that in the event
of the extinction of the house of Annesley, the family’s
right of presentation was to become void and be trans-
ferred to Felley Priory, which already held patronage of
the church. It is further worth mentioning that Robert de
Annesley was uncle of Sir John (III) de Annesley, whose
manor was situated close to the church at Annesley.
A manuscript record of 1748 attests that at the time
the east window of the chantry chapel displayed scenes
of The Birth of Jesus, The Adoration of the Magi, and The
Crucifixion, and that at the foot there was an image of
the windows donor, presumably Sir John III de Annes-
ley, with his wife and daughter.* * 3 To date, it has not been
possible to ascertain how this scheme relates to the four-
teenth-century one. The same record further makes men-
tion of heraldic stained glass occupying the upper section
of the window, probably the second row of tracery com-
partments: the arms of Annesley (‘Paly of six argent and
azure, overall a bend gules’), flanked by those of Fitzwil-
liam (‘Lozengy gules and argent, 3, 3, 1’) and Stapleton
(Argent a lion rampant sable’).4 * * * * In addition to the panels
Annesley (who had died of the plague in 1357) and his wife Anne.
See J.C. Cox, Notes of the Churches of Derbyshire, vol. IV, Chester-
field and London, 1879, pp. 39-47; and idem, A parochial chartu-
lary of the Fourteenth Century’, The Ancestor, 6,1903, pp. 103-118.
3 London, British Library, Add. MS 5832, fol. 223 (dated 30 Janu-
ary 1748). The text is quoted by P.A. Newton, Schools, vol. Ill,
p. 400 (as in note 1).
4 Ibidem. The identification of the coats of arms deviated from the
information given by R. Thoroton (Thorotons History, p. 269,
in the east window described, other windows are men-
tioned, some of them also featuring heraldic motifs. The
characteristic design of the east window’s tracery (com-
prising four rows of identical quatrefoil compartments),
together with a reasonably detailed 1930s inventory of
the stained glass transferred from its original locations
at Annesley Old Church to the church at Holme, admit
the proposition that the representations of the Virgin and
Christ, both enthroned {The Coronation of Mary), origi-
nally featured in the third row; the lowest row would have
featured images of angels.5
Completion of a new church in Annesley in 18746 led to
gradual dilapidation of the old church.7 A handful of facts
pertaining to the stained glass when still in situ in the lat-
ter building can be found in the report of a scientific field
trip undertaken in June 1912.8 A photograph of the east
wall9 of the chantry chapel shows that the Annesley arms
were still visible at that time, in the central tracery com-
partment in the second row.
In 1932, at the initiative of Nevil Truman, Associate of
the British Society of Master Glass-Painters, the chap-
el’s east window tracery was stripped of all its remaining
stained glass, including the depictions of the Virgin and
as in note 2). On the discrepancy, see P.A. Newton, Schools, vol.
Ill, p. 406 (as in note 1). See also E. Trollope, ‘The Churches of
Mansfield and other Parishes visited by the Society on the 23rd
and 24th of June 1874’, Associated Architectural Societies Reports
and Papers, 12, part II, 1874, p. 170.
5 N. Truman, Ancient Glass in Nottinghamshire’, Transactions of
the Thoroton Society, 51,1947, pp. 50-65; the key section relating to
Annesley is quoted by the Southwell & Nottingham Church His-
tory Project: http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.ac.uk/
annesley-old-church/hglass.php [retrieved 1 August 2019]. Tru-
man supposed that the angels ‘once held thuribles thrown above
their heads’. In his landmark work on medieval stained glass in
the Midlands, Newton attributed the remnants of the stained
glass from the church in Annesley now at Holme to the ‘Mas-
ter of Dronfield’; see P.A. Newton, Schools, vol. I, pp. 57-61 (as
in note 1). The workshop responsible for this glass was active
around 1370; the same workshop also created the glazings in Oke-
over, Lockington and North Winfield, which are characterised by
a constantly recurring repertoire of models. Norton believed that
the stained glass executed for Annesley was among the latest in
this group.
6 ‘Church of All Saints’, Historic England, https://historicengland.
org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1275939 [retrieved 1 August
2019].
7 J.C. Cox, The Churches of Nottinghamshire, London, 1912, p. 22.
8 A.M.Y. Baylay, Annesley Old Church’, Transactions of the Thoro-
ton Society, 16,1912, this article available in its entirety at: Notting-
hamshire History: Resources for local historians and genealogists,
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1912/summer/an-
nesleyoldchurch.htm [retrieved 1 August 2019].
9 Also reproduced at http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.
ac.uk/annesley-old-church/plcewin1912.jpg [retrieved 1 November
2019].