The Timothy Window

“St. Timothy” Window, 1971 (Hills Memorial)

This charming single-light window was given by Mrs. Dora Hills in memory of her husband, Frank, who died on 26^th April 1969. The window was dedicated on 6^th June 1971.

The choice of subject is a good one for the “Church of St. Paul”, because Timothy was one of Paul`s closest companions in his travels.  While still a young man, he became the first Bishop of the Church at Ephesus, and Paul wrote two Epistles to him there.  In fact, Timothy`s name is mentioned in no less than twelve books of the New Testament, far more than any other Christian except St. Paul himself.  The window shows him as a youthful figure, staff in hand, presumably engaged on some missionary journey.  The inscriptions say simply ‘Timothy’, and ‘Frank Hills 1891-1969’.

In the two small tracery lights above, there are symbols of the activities for which Frank Hills is remembered: he was a member of our Choir for some 40 years, which explains the page of music, and the words ‘O Sing unto the Lord’; he was at one point Churchwarden here and was also involved in the Scout Movement – hence the Churchwarden`s staff and the Scout emblem.  But the words ‘Honour thy God’ have a double significance: as well as being appropriate to Frank Hills’ life, they are also a play on the name ‘Timothy’, which is derived from two Greek words meaning ‘honour’ and ‘God’.

It is a lovely bright window with  vivid colours. The brightness is achieved by the use of hand-made ‘Norman slab’ glass, which retains its lustre even in dull conditions.  The designer was Alfred Fisher and the window was made at Whitefriars Studio, Wealdstone – the White Friar and the initials ‘AF’ are in the corner.