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
Also see the leaflet – The Freeth Windows

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.

This window is decorated with flames, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.3). Red and brown are the predominant colours.

On the right hand side of Christ, the Prophet, can be seen the figure of Isaiah holding a coal in tongs in one hand (Isaiah 6. 1 – 9) and a scroll in the other.
Isaiah is one of the most important prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. Having witnessed the glory of God in his vision,
he perceived the contrast between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humans. However his message is full of hope.
Flanking Jesus on the other side is St John, as a young man, holding his book of prophecy, Revelation.
The eagle is the motif of St John (Revelation 4. 7). John’s prophecy speaks of the fulfilment of God’s promises in the last days.
One of the descriptions of Christ during his ministry was that of prophet (Luke 7. 16; Luke 24. 19).