Llanwarne Flemish roundels at risk

[crwyard]

Llanwarne Flemish roundels at risk

Christ Church, Llanwarne (also known as the new church) was built in 1864 and was described by John Betjeman as one of the finest examples of Victorian craftsmanship that he had seen. Within Victorian stained glass settings there are 27 stunning and unusual 16C Flemish medieval stained glass roundels depicting religious, mythical and domestic scenes.
They are of historic and artistic importance and have been linked to the work of Albert Durer. Some of the images of the Netherlandic moral fable of Sorghelos (Careless), which was similar to the parable of the prodigal son, but without the happy ending! Two of the images in the setting are duplicated in the V&A Museum and all are catalogued in William Cole's A catalogue of Netherlandish & North European Roundels in Britain.

The journey of the roundels to Llanwarne is a story in itself and one we have yet to finish and, like the instigation of the 'new church' in 1894, very much linked to the Mynors family of Treago. So far, what we can piece together is: the stained glass windows were brought to Herefordshire from Chapel Cleeve, Somerset in 1817, when Elizabeth Halliday married Peter Richard Mynors. Some were installed in 1848 in the east window of St Weonards church, the church closest to the Mynors’ home at Treago Castle. In 1884 Robert Baskerville Mynors replaced the roundels with a memorial window for his mother. The roundels were described as German or Flemish 16th century and were felt to be suited to domestic rather than church usage, so were restored to the Baskerville Mynors at Treago, where they lay in a barn until 1901, when they were given to Walter Baskerville Mynors, then Rector of Llanwarne and installed in the new church, which he had been so instrumental in making happen.
The church was privileged to have been gifted these roundels, but now has a responsibility to ensure that this collection, which is of significant historic and artistic importance, is restored and preserved. The roundels are today in a fragile state and in desperate need of conservation, so the village is launching a Roundels Appeal to raise the 26 000 pounds needed to preserve this precious inheritance for future generations.

To support the appeal with fundraising activities please email: Rev.mark100@yahoo.co.uk. To contribute funds directly, please send cheques payable to Llanwarne PCC, c/o Revd Mark Johnson, The Rectory, Becket House, Much Birch, HR2 8BT.
If anyone has any more knowledge of their origins, that too would be of great interest, as the story is still incomplete.