|
Nicholas Chapel
[Extract from All Saints Writtle by
Stuart Platt, pub 1992]
 Moving
past the font and through the screen, we enter the South chapel, now
known as the Nicholas chapel and within which the Blessed Sacrament is
reserved. A memorial tablet to John Owen Nicholas records that it was
his inspiration which brought about the initial restoration of the
chapel; under the guidance of Peter Nokes, further improvements have
been made since the 1991 fire.
It
was also the vision and drive of John Nicholas who saw the need for a
new parish in the housing estate that was being developed by Chelmsford
Borough on the land of Melbourne farm, formerly part of Writtle Parish.
As a result, in 1952, the parishioners of Writtle raised the money to
build the first St Andrew's Church, a dual purpose building, and
Writtle's curate became the first priest in charge of the daughter
parish. Further money was raised in Writtle to help St Andrew's Parish
build a permanent church in 1958.
The
stained glass window in the South wall of this chapel was installed in
1901, in memory of members of the Barlow family;
William
Robert, and his son William Frederick were both distinguished surgeons
who lived in the parish. Other members of the family are also recorded
in the stonework below. The youngest daughter of William Robert, who
lived in the three story red brick fronted Georgian house, Greenbury,
overlooking the pond on The Green, survived until 1924. The window
depicts the Ascension; the Virgin Mary and the apostles are illustrated
in the lower portions of the window gazing upwards at the ascending
figure of Christ.
To
the left of this window is the former South door, now transformed into
an alcove, above which is a lantern suspended from a superb example of
the blacksmith's art. This wrought iron bracket by H J T Pamplin was
presented by him in 1950, shortly before his death the following year,
when the family business closed having served the village for almost a
century. The smithy was in the building on the corner of St John's Green
now occupied by Phillips estate agents, whilst the actual forge on which
this work would have been fashioned was in the part of the building
occupied by Boatman's the opticians and now the Hair Spa hairdressers. The
house attached to the premises (no 2 The Green) was for many years the
home of the smith's family and known as "Mansmiths".
|
