High up in the North Quire of Malvern Priory Church is the Founder's Window, eight medieval stained glass windows arranged in two tiers of four. The earliest known legend of the founding saint appears in the upper tier of lights. It is believed that when the Norman church was rebuilt the east window was the first to be completed c.1440, and the quire windows added soon afterwards.
The Founder's Window would have been in situ therefore by c.1450. Because of its height and angle, the Founder's Window had lain virtually undiscovered for centuries, and it was Albert Way who in 1843 first copied them and explained their meaning. The content and meaning of these particular windows would have been known at the time of the dissolution of Malvern Priory in 1539, but as the priory church fell into decay the significance of the windows was lost, to be rediscovered by Way three hundred years later.
Two tiers of four stained glass lights comprise the Founder's Window, the lower tier describes the foundation of the priory church by Aldwyn (also known as Alwy/Aldwin) but the windows in the upper tier deal specifically with St Werstan. This tier consists of a series of four lights and painstaking examination of them provides the initial analysis of their content and meaning. Light (i) shows St Werstan the Martyr's vision of four angels establishing a chapel on the Malvern hillside; Light (ii) shows the same four angels consecrating the chapel; in light (iii) Edward the Confessor is granting a charter to a clerk in holy orders and light (iv) shows the execution by beheading of St Werstan.
St Werstan is the legendary founder of Malvern. He is reputed to have been a monk who fled the monastery at Deerhurst when the Danes or Vikings were plundering the region. Establishing an oratory or hermitage by a spring on the Malvern Hills, here Werstan hoped to live a holy
and solitary life as a recluse engaged in private prayer, but was murdered and subsequently honoured as a saint. Dates for this event vary and have been cited as early as the third century. The hermitage was certainly established before the time of the Norman Conquest although the creation of a full-scale Benedictine monastery is also accredited to the monk Aldwyn.
Recent research has identified inaccuracies in the retelling of this founding legend. As a result there is now a clearer, logical account of Werstan's exodus from Deerhurst to Malvern, his relationship with the spring and the vicinity now known as St Ann's Well, and his influence on the establishment of Malvern Priory and by association the town itself.
Such legends of saints are not necessarily factually correct although they are generally located in a true historic context. Did St George really kill a dragon? They were allegories that gave meaning to issues of importance at the time. Often the legend altered with the passage of time. There can be no doubt that the legend of St Werstan played an active part in the community culture in medieval times. Subsequently lost, the legend can be rekindled from the sparse direct evidence that exists together with similarities with other comparable legends and contemporary circumstances. St Werstan was a local martyr saint revered as the founder of the religious community in Malvern. It is believed that St Werstan founded his hermitage in the valley below the present day St Ann's Well. He initially lived in a cave but soon established a purpose built chapel and his martyrdom occurred only a few years after his arrival in the Malvern Hills.
A visit to Malvern Priory to view all the windows is a fascinating experience. A pair of binoculars is essential for some of the more difficult to see. The Founder's Window is best seen from the south side of the quire by looking high into the windows opposite. Also some form of interpretive document greatly assists in explaining the significance of these pictures from the past.
Cora Weaver