East Window of the Lady Chapel, 1922 (Royle Memoral)
This was the first stained-glass in St. Paul`s and only a small part of the original has survived. It was made by Fuller`s and dedicated on 13th June 1922, in memory of Mr. W.J. Royle, the money raised by subscription.
At the end of July 1944, this window was almost completely destroyed by a flying bomb, leaving only the tracery (small upper windows) intact. These show the Arms of Canterbury and Chelmsford, flanked by St. Paul our Patron and St. Cedd the 7th century missionary Bishop in Essex.
The original main lights of the window showed Our Lady and the Infant Christ, flanked by Wise Men and Shepherds. This replacement (1957 Hills Memorial) window is an entirely new design depicting the same scene.
The three lights show Our Lady and the Infant Christ (centre) with the kings and shepherds to left and right respectively. The subject of the window is actually the same as the pre-war Royle Memorial which it replaced. The tracery glass above it was not damaged in the war, and this was left in place. At one time (March 1956) there were plans to install a tablet, giving details of the old Royle Memorial Window and its destruction, but this was never done.
The window itself is self-explanatory, but there`s one small figure you may not have noticed: the firm have left their mark in the bottom right-hand corner, in the form of a little White Friar. The Artist, rather amusingly, has signed it off with his normal signature, the trilby he wore in his workshop.