I have heard it said that when alumnae return to Downe House they will often admit to missing Chapel, even if during their time at School they were known for hiding in wardrobes to avoid attending the compulsory services!

They acknowledge that Chapel was something they went onto miss! Was it the peace this beautiful space offers? Perhaps it was singing hymns as a community on a cold winter’s day? Or maybe it was gazing at the colourful cobalt blue and red stained-glass window as it was lit up by the morning sun? How well do you know the history of this window?

Our Chapel’s stained-glass window was in fact created as a memorial to a fifteen-year-old Downe House pupil, Margaret ‘Peggy’ Warrand Connal, who tragically died from a mastoid ear infection that spread to her brain. If you look closely, written on the edging of the righthand panel are the simple yet poignant words “In Love. Peggy Warrand Connal”.

From the late 1920s to early 1930s, Peggy attended Downe House with her sister Elizabeth Warrand Connal. Jane Caiger-Smith, our archivist writes, “her family commissioned the artist, Beatrice Ethel Lithiby, also known as B E Lithiby, to create a stained-glass window in her memory. The glass was painted and glazed by Lowndes and Drury at the Glass House in Lettice Street, Fulham.”

I regularly look at the stained-glass window during our Chapel services. The window depicts the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and according to Lithiby, represents “a scheme of redemption” whereby the story of Christ is told simultaneously with the redemption of men, women and children. The window should be read from the bottom upwards, with Christ in glory standing with disciples surrounding him at the top.

Next time you return to Downe, why not visit the Chapel and have look at the window with a new perspective? You might notice that “at the bottom of the window, there are two quarter-circular panels on the left and right which depict Downe House girls and the buildings of the Cloisters including the Chapel.”

I like to imagine that they represent Peggy’s peers and perhaps one image may be inspired by her likeness, although I have no proof for this. However, I also like to think they represent all Downe House pupils, past, present and to come, who have and will be a part of this place.

Although you may have not yet created a lasting work of art, or there may not at this stage in time be a plaque or stained-glass window to mark your time at Downe House, your very being here in this place has contributed to the spiritual reality of the School. From when you were studying hard or playing on the sports field; in the friendships you made and the laughter and the tears you shared, to the Chapel services you attended – no matter which century these moments were created, they will always be a part of the fabric of our community that connects us all.

Reverand Anthea Platt (Chaplain)