The bay window of the Gary Weston Library on the first floor of the millennium extension, opened in 2001 by Nelson Mandela, commemorates the former bishop of Winchester, Lancelot Andrewes. It features -as well as a portrait of Andrewes himself - The Old London Bridge (the only bridge across the Thames until 1729), and river scenes and boats. Southwark was one of the busiest ferry crossings in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This imagery is combined with texts from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets and biblical imagery, including: the crucifixion, the prodigal son and the raising of Lazarus, among others. A procession of figures from history – a sort of ‘danse macabre’ – is depicted in a sort of frieze across the window.
The commission was the result of a competition to design the window. The side windows of the bay window were commissioned as a second phase of work. The Gary Weston Library isn’t open to the public, but access can be arranged by asking the attendants in the main cathedral.
