St George’s Church, Beckenham, the East Windows – a study

Introduction

The East windows – a set of five – were designed and made by Thomas Freeth. They replace the Victorian windows that were damaged in the Second World War.

Useful websites:
https://stgeorgesbeckenham.co.uk/history/windows/
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:freeth-thomas-19121994

The five windows form a set which may be interpreted in many ways but the approach taken in the following descriptions is that of the course of time
from creation to the end times.

Connections are made backward in time with significant characters from history and also forward with judgement and the last days.

There are five windows each with three sections.
The central figure in each is Christ.

Moving from south to north the central figure is:
1. Christ, the second Adam
2. Christ, the prophet
3. Christ the Great High priest
4. Christ, the King
5. Christ, the Judge.

The faces are in a Byzantine style and each window has one or two predominant colours.

Here is creation – the beginning of time.

Central is Christ, the Word, present at creation. As the second Adam, Christ is flanked on the south by the Virgin and Child,
showing the beginning of the life of Jesus as a human. On the other side,
Adam [אדמ] (human) (Genesis 1. 27) is red brown in colour showing the origin of humanity in the dust of the ground [אדמה] (Genesis 22. 7).
The figure holds a spade over the shoulder and a scythe in the hand. Christ’s skin colour is similarly, brown.
There are winding stems coming up from a trunk and green leaves:
the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and the Trees of the new heaven and earth (Revelation 22. 2).
The predominant colour is green. In the tracery at the top can be seen chi rho [ΧΡ],
the first two letters of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ – Christ.
Also can be seen Α and Ω, alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (Revelation 1. 8; 21. 6; 22. 13) – Christ the first and the last.
There is a reminder here of our close connection with the rest of creation:
humans are made from the earth and return there at death.
It is the responsibility of humans to respect creation
and make sure they do not cause harm to this gift but treat it wisely and carefully.