Te Reredos Unpicking its Symbolism and Histry Church buildings to some people are special or sacred places, the buildings of themselves and their contents bearing witness and testament to the faith of preceding generations.
The Reredos of St James the Great church Daisy Hill is one such testament of faith. For approaching one hundred years it has played its part in telling the Easter story, however, in 2020 that was not to be COVID-19 caused all places of worship to be closed.
No doubt the timing of closing the outer wings has changed over the last 96 years, however, in recent times on Monday of Holy Week the reredos would be partly close, leaving only the centre picture visible and then at the Maundy Thursday service they would be completely closed.
Symbolically taking Jesus away from us and for some people creating a sense of the loss and bereavement that the disciples of Jesus must have experienced on the first Good Friday.
When closed the plain doors reveal carved shields with a Christogram, the letters IHS, an ancient way of writing Jesus Christ and perhaps symbolically indicating he is still there. The creators of the reredos used the symbols of icon painters of the early church and we can unpick the symbolism which is full of loving support, the words “I am with you always” ( Mathew 28: 20) come to mind.
The expansive gold background symbolises uncreated light - the pure light of heaven In the centre panel the creators of the reredos did not want to terrify the people of Daisy Hill with the gruesome physical reality of crucifixion, as Icon painters before them, they bring to us a spiritual reality expressed in symbols we can read.
The cloud band, behind Jesus, represents God the Father and points to the Ascension to come, the blue background is symbolic of the divine. The sun and moon are ancient symbols now used by Christianity. The sun on the left represents the new testament and the moon on the right represents the old testament. The moon is shown both full and as a crescent, which symbolises chastity.
On the left the Virgin Mary, her blue garment represents divinity and the red her humanity. On the right St John the Evangelist, the red garment a symbol of humanity and the green / blue probably used to as a symbol of life. The scroll the on cross has the inscription I N R I ( Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews). The lilies are a symbol of purity. The attendant angels on each side completing the centre panel are agents of the divine re-enforcing the constant presents of God no matter what the circumstances. On the left wings we find Archangel Michael with a dragon, a symbol used to represent evil / the antichrist, and the scales he holds are to weigh the souls of the dead to measure their just deserts.
In the outer left wing two more angels, more symbols of the divine presents, their wing shapes suggest movement, landing from flight, their toes are just touching the cloud. On the right wings we see ArchangelGabriel, the herald of birth, who carries a lily the symbol of the annunciation. It was he who also announced Christ’s resurrection on Easter Day.
In the outer right wing two further angels, more symbols of the divine presents. They are not mirror images of their counterparts on the left wing, their composition is similar but they are individuals.
Words from the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service come to mind “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name; evermore praising thee, …” The reredos is an ongoing research project, some of what we have so far discovered is below.
St. James church was not built with a reredos, behind the original altar was a curtain and evidence of the curtain rail fixings can be seen to both sides of the reredos when its wings are closed.
The reredos was designed by James Austin in 1924, who was then senior partner of Austin & Paley the architectural practice that designed the church, which in 1879 was called Paley and Austin. The practice name changed many times during its existence depending on who was the senior partner.
The painted panels of the reredos are reputed to be the work of Shrigley & Hunt of Lancaster. The carving is believed to have been carried out in Hinkley however the carver is unknown. Arthur Hunt took over a Lancaster firm called Shrigley and Hudson in 1870, they were noted decorators and gilders, he introduced stained glass to their repertoire.
The firms standing in the 19th. century ranked alongside Morris & Co. who designed and made the magnificent east window of St. James’s. Shrigley and Hunt embraced the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement not only on honest craftsmanship but on accessibility of imagery. After Hunt’s death in 1917 the company chief designers continued to follow Morris’ principals and were strongly influenced by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, designer of the St James east window. Records also indicate a strong working association with Paley and Austin the Lancaster architects of St James the Great.