ST MARY'S CHURCH, WALNEY ISLAND: EAST WINDOW
The fine east window was inserted in early 1990 and was dedicated at Whitsuntide. Funds had been provided under the terms of a bequest from Mrs. Bertha Priest, and the whole window was specially designed by Carlisle Cathedral architect Ray Nicol. Previously there had been no stained-glass at all within St Mary's.
The combined coloured outlines of the stained-glass sections together form the shape a cross. In the foreground, children and adults in working garb from the 1980s look up towards the crucified Christ, whilst a traditionally-clad St Mary the Virgin, the patron of the church, watches from nearby. The Calvary scene is here depicted on an island, bedecked with white lilies.
The background vista across the channel is not intended to represent an actual local scene, although a few recognisable buildings from the town of Barrow have been added to heighten the overall effect. Chiefly these are the five white gables of the new Devonshire Dock Hall (where for several years previously the Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering workforce had been assembling submarines), whilst the familiar reddish-sandstone tower of the Town Hall stands just a little further behind.
The white dove hovering above the cross represents the Holy Spirit, as the dying Saviour returns upwards towards the Father. The smooth-faced hill in the far background may vaguely recall Black Combe (a prominent feature on the skyline to the north of Walney Island), although no specific hill was in fact intended. The scrolled motto near the foot of the cross reminds the reader that "The Folly of God is Wiser than Human Wisdom" (1st Corinthians 1v25).