After the death of Charles Eamer Kempe in 1907, his business was carried on under the direction of a distant cousin and former pupil of his called Walter Ernest Tower.  He adopted Kempe’s wheatsheaf symbol but superimposed a small tower, and this can be found in three of the later windows in St David’s, one of which was dedicated to the memory of the first vicar of the new church, Cyril Valpy French.  The window is above the organ gallery on the south side of the church and can be seen from the floor of the chancel.

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The figures are of two philosophers, theologians and Doctors of the Church.  On the left stands St Anselm, splendidly apparelled in red, blue and gold as befits an Archbishop of Canterbury, and on the right St Thomas Aquinas in the contrasting white habit and black cloak of the Dominican Order.  Both have wonderfully calm, reflective expressions, and they are set within an ornate architectural framework.  Anselm holds a bible and crozier, Thomas has a book showing words from “Lauda Sion Salvatorem” the eucharistic hymn which he wrote for the feast of Corpus Christi in about 1264.

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Valpy French became vicar of St David’s in 1894 and was very much the inspiration behind the building of the new church.  He died on 28 April 1914, three weeks short of his 59th birthday.  The window was donated by his widow, Emma, and their three children Gordon, Dorothy and Hilda.

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The window is not the only memorial to Valpy French in St David’s.  Another, which was the gift of his parishioners, is the ornate font cover.  His grave lies just to the right of the path which leads from the northwest corner of the church towards Hele Road. It is marked by a wooden cross, designed by W D Caröe and beautifully restored by John Wakley in about 2003.

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