A millennium tribute to William Herschel

Francis Ring

A remarkable set of stained glass windows commemorating the astronomer Sir William Herschel was dedicated at Upton St Laurence church near Slough on 24th February 2001. The millennium windows depicting the solar system, and Herschel observing them with a large telescope were designed and made by Mr Andrew Taylor at Devizes. A bequest to the Diocese of Oxford by Miss Nora Cruikshank had drawn requests for a number of projects from many churches. Ultimately, the bequest was assigned to the church most linked with William Herschel for commemorative stained glass windows, the final design being selected by competition.

It was at St Laurence Church that William married Mary Pitt on May 8th, 1788, six years after he left Bath, and his tomb (1822) is located below the tower of the 12th Century Church. William Herschel, his wife and son John were the members of the congregation for many years. A condition of the bequest was that a quotation from Psalm 8 should be included in the final project. The inscription included in the window quotes from the Psalm: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have ordained, What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them?"

The dedication service was led by the Rector, Revd Dr David Miell. The church was filled to capacity, with civic officers, members of the Herschel family descendants, and many representatives of organisation associated with astronomy and science, including the Bath based William Herschel Society. The invited speaker was Dr. Heather Couper who outlined the remarkable achievements of William Herschel, and how they related to modern astronomy and space research. The service concluded with a hymn written locally for William Herschel's birthday (15th November), which is used by the Church at Upton. The organ solos were fittingly selected from William's compositions originally written during his years in Bath.

(Despite his fruitful time as organist at the Octagon Chapel in Bath, there appears to be no record of his participation in the church music at St Laurence, perhaps because astronomy had completely taken over his life. There is one record of his performance on an organ in France in the presence of Napoleon Bonaparte, but little else to associate William Herschel, the composer, soloist and conductor with music in his later years.)

The stained glass windows at Upton Church are colourful, vibrant and beautifully detailed. By late afternoon, at the conclusion of the service the February sun was streaming through the new windows, which are set in the west end of the nave. They remain a splendid reminder of the time past, when the famous amateur astronomer of the late 18th and early 19th century made repeated discoveries in the heavens using telescopes of his own design.

Quoted from "The Speculum", Autumn 2001 issued by the William Herschel Society