South transept: Bowerman West window
The following description of the Bowerman West window is by Jeremy Lawford:
The south transept window in St David’s commemorates Richard Bowerman West, who died on 8 August 1900 at the age of 35. He was the only son of Richard Thornton West, a merchant who had inherited a considerable fortune from an uncle and had moved from Streatham in Surrey to Exeter soon after marrying Sarah Bowerman from Uffculme in 1863. Thornton West built a fine Italianate mansion in the parish of St David, which he named Streatham Hall, and engaged Robert Veitch to lay out the extensive garden and grounds. He died in 1878, and in due course his son and his widow contributed generously to the building of the new St David’s Church, the total of their donations amounting to rather more than half of the total cost.
Bowerman West died of acute pneumonia, and the newspapers of the day suggest that he had been genuinely admired and respected by the people of the city. He had contributed handsomely to any number of local charities and had served as JP and High Sheriff of the County. For his funeral the route from Streatham Hall to St David’s was lined by “a vast and sympathetic concourse of citizens”, who watched in solemn silence as the glass hearse and eight carriages passed by.
Sarah, his mother, died in 1902, and Streatham Hall served as a military hospital during the First World War. In 1922 the estate was bought by Alderman William Henry Reed and presented to the University. The house was renamed Reed Hall in his honour and the grounds became the nucleus of the University’s Streatham campus.
The window is by Charles Eamer Kempe. Freed of the restraints on his artistic imagination imposed by Caröe for the windows in the nave, he was able to give full expression to his subject, and the result is rich in colour and detail. The three scenes show episodes from immediately after the Resurrection.
In the two left-hand lights, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, and the scroll above her head bears her cry of recognition “Rabboni” (John 20:16). Jesus holds the banner which symbolizes his victory over death. In the background is countryside, a river and the walled city of Jerusalem. The central lights show the women who brought spices to the tomb, and the angels in dazzling clothes whom they found there. The Latin text reads “He is not here but has risen” (Luke 24:5). In the right-hand lights, Jesus, now with shepherd’s staff in hand, appears to Peter beside the Sea of Galilee. Above the kneeling apostle is the text “Lord you know that I love you” and above Jesus his reply “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). In the four small lights above, the angels proclaim "Alleluia. The Lord has risen as he said. Alleluia".
On the wall below the window, the copper repoussé panel recording the gift of the window is an early work by Eric Gill.