Aldermaston Manor House 1851- stained glass windows. Comments after the photographs

Coat of Arms (if such existed then) of King Harold, the first Lord of the Manor. Upstairs in the hall.

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of King William 1st. Upstairs in the hall.

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of King William II. Upstairs in the hall.

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of King Herny I. Upstairs in the hall.

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of Sir Humphrey Forster, 1540. On the great staircase

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of King Henry VIII, 1540- to commemorate his visit. On the great staircase.

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of Queen Elizabeth I, who visited the previous Manor House twice. On the great staircase

Peter Oldridge

Coat of Arms of William Forster, 1558, commemorating his marriage to Jane Hungerford. On the great staircase

Peter Oldridge

Manor House 1851- preface to 2 saints' windows

The left-hand of the two Saints' windows- individual windows are shown above.

The right-hand of the two Saints' windows- individual windows are shown above.

Manor House 1851- preface to individual saints' windows

........St Margaret top window

........St George top window

...,.....St Christopher top window

St Margaret main window. Patron Saint of various unfortunates, here is St Margaret of Antioch, with Satan appearing before her in the form of a Dragon

Peter Oldridge

St George main window. Chosen by King Edward III in 1350 as Patron Saint of England, here he is slaying the dragon.

Peter Oldridge

St Christopher main window. Patron Saint of travellers, here he is carrying the Christ Child across the river.

Peter Oldridge

........Saint Katherine top window

Peter Oldridge

St Agnes top window

Peter Oldridge

..... St Edward top window

The Emperor Maxentius tried to kill her over a spiked breaking wheel but it shattered. The modern Katherine Wheel firework is named after this.

Another martyr of the Romans, the Patron Saint of virgins. The Latin for lamb is Agnus...

The Confessor, Patron Saint of difficult marriages and separated spouses! A ring is evident in both windows...

Top window of St Edmund

Top window of St Dorothy

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Bottom window of Saint Edmund- the Patron Saint of Pandemics!

Bottom window of Saint Dorothy, Patron Saint of gardeners, horticulturalists etc, carrying a bowl of produce

Sir Humphrey Forester

Edward Forester

The Forester and Kingsmill families

One of two windows with the initials of the Manor House's builders, the Higford Burrs

The Forester and Stewart families

The Forester and Barrett families

The Forester and Hongerford families. Otherwise spelled Forster and Hungerford.

The Forester and Sandes families

The Forester and Delamar families

The Forester and Harplden families

A second window representing the Higford Burrs. Mary Higford Burr's initials MHB are evident in the brickwork and othe details on the outside of the building.

The Forester and Stonard families

One of the many features lending the interior of the Manor House such vibrancy and atmosphere is the splendid array of stained glass windows. With the kind permission of the owners, Peter Oldridge photographed all but six of the historic windows on 24th August 2020 and these are displayed above. In the library and on the second floor are excellent examples of the art of heraldry, showing numerous families’ coats of arms in varying combinations with one another. In the corridor is a wonderful collection of eight Christian saints.

They are grouped above by location:

1- The second floor above the main entrance hall: 4 coats of arms;

2- The great staircase: 4 coats of arms;

3- The corridor to the east of the library: 8 double- windows of Christian saints and martyrs. They are grouped in two clusters as shown in the two photos above the individual saints’ windows.

4- The Library. In this vast room are displayed a total of 18 main windows illustrating through their coats of arms the alliances between families over the centuries. The Foresters (elsewhere spelled “Forsters”) predominate and the combinations provide a rich source of study for any student of heraldry.  6 windows are obscured by drapes so only 12 could be photographed at this time.

NB! The exact proportions are not guaranteed- in many cases the photo was taken pointing upwards at a higher image and then adjusted to estimated scales.