LINK WITH SELWYN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22352, 25 February 1936, Page 10

LINK WITH SELWYN

| WINDOW IN SCHOOL CHAPEL STONE FROM HISTORIC ABBEY . [from our own correspondent] HAMILTON. Monday Two relics of the past have been embodied in the chapel at St. Peter's School, Cambridge. One is a piece of stone from Westminster Abbey, and the other is a window which formerly belonged to the mission church built at Te Awamutu when Bishop Selwyn was in New Zealand. The window contains unique features. There were no leadlight workers available when it was made, but the people were anxious to preserve as far as possible the ecclesiastic traditions of England. The builder, Edward Chittam, in 1853 got over the difficulty by "raiding" the military camp. He secured a number of rum barrels and, making use of the hoops, produced wonderful windows with diamond-shaped panes to a design believed to have been prepared by Bishop Selwyn himself. Some of the lights lay for many years under the old mission house at Te Awamutu, and, when the building was demolished a few years ago, they were discovered and presented to Mr. J. It. Fow, Mayor of Hamilton, who handed them over to the architect of the new chapel at St. Peter's School. The incorporation of the lights in the chapel serves as an interesting memento of Bishop Sehvyju