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50. St Pauls, Stansted
This chapel in the grounds of Stansted House is not particularly beautiful and at first glance may seem rather ordinary, but in fact it has features of unique historical interest. Although the red brick entrance porch is fifteenth century the rest of the building dates from the Regency period and was consecrated in 1819. The red brick tower battlements with sham Gothic pinnacles, the windows of Regency Gothic design and the plaster ceiling with its flower designs were all designed by Lewis Way who bought Stansted House in 1804 and began renovating the old chapel.
Lewis Way was an extraordinary man - even eccentric. Educated at Eton and Merton College Oxford he reluctantly became a barrister but he soon felt a strong desire to convert the Jews to Christianity and restore to them the land of Israel. His opportunity came in 1794 when he inherited £300,000. He became ordained and his aim was to found a Hebrew College at Stansted. In the aftermath of the defeat of Napoleon he twice visited Czar Alexander I of Russia to plead the cause of the Jewish people and was even allowed to address the assembled ambassadors at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. In the end it all came to nothing but the chapel at Stansted survives as a memorial to his beliefs. The ante-chapel under the gallery as you enter has various Biblical texts painted on the walls and a huge font of black marble big enough to baptise an elephant. Entering the nave with its black and white tiles and black uncomfortable pews, note the plain windows displaying the arms and crests of Lewis Way himself, the 1st Earl of Arundel, King Henry II, the 2nd Earl of Halifax and many others. A rather forbidding black painted pulpit, a large reading desk and an eagle lectern complete the furnishings. But it is the chancel which is so unusual. The lower panelling is red and gold, the upper light blue with a blue ceiling covered in stars. The stained glass window of yellowish colours catches the eye. It is wholly Jewish in design and symbolism. Across the top is a rainbow with silver rays of light shining through clouds with cherubs above. It symbolises Genesis 9.3 'I set my rainbow in the cloud... the sign of the covenant between me and the Earth'. The rest of the window depicts the Tabernacle and items described in Hebrews 9.2-5, such as the candelabra, Aaron's rod, the stone tablets of the Covenant and the ark. On this is written in Hebrew Jeremiah 31.31 relating to a new Covenant to be made with Israel. Also on the walls of the chancel the Ten Commandments are written in Hebrew. Surely no other Christian church is so full of Jewish symbolism?
A memorial brass in front of the altar is to George Wilder a later Victorian owner of Stansted. Other memorials commemorate the 8th and 9th Earls of Bessborough and two of their sons. The consecration of the chapel in June 1819 was attended by the famous poet John Keats. Two stanzas of his poem 'Eve of St Agnes' describe the arms and crests displayed in the nave whilst the East window is referred to in another poem 'The Eve of St Mark'. The small churchyard at the back contains tombstones relating to the Earls of Bessborough and their families. One more recent stone to Denis Browne K.C.V.O., F.R.C.S., who died in 1967 has an amusing epitaph inscribed on it... 'One is laid here who used to
call As I read these words I was disturbed by an odd noise. I looked and there on the roof of the church sat two very large green peacocks preening themselves in the sunshine. It made a fitting end to an interesting visit to an unusual church. John Symonds |
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page last updated 1 JULY 2001 |
