"Made by glass worker Sarah Bristow, who used to live in Market Bosworth, it was commissioned by Geoff and Fiona Frisby of Congerstone as a memorial to their former spouses and to Fiona’s two children.
Freshly installed in the north wall of the church of St Mary the Virgin in Congerstone, the window was blessed by the Archdeacon of Loughborough, the Venerable David Newman, at a special service of dedication on Saturday (November 22) after which a string quartet played pieces by Handel.
It features a portrait of the composer on one side and an image of Gopsall temple with the long demolished Gopsall Hall behind on the other.
Legend has it that Handel was inspired to write his masterpiece Messiah while visiting the temple, the ruins of which are today accessible to the public along a country footpath.
Text explaining the Gopsall links and Handel’s life and work is carried in two panels towards the base of the window."
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The text on the window reads:
George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany on February 23rd 1685. At the age of
twelve he became the assistant organist at the Cathedral of Halle, where the principal
organist was his teacher. Handel was in England in 1714 when his former employer, the
Elector of Hanover, became King George I of England. The King bestowed special favours
on Handel and in 1727 made him an English citizen. Handel became London's leading
composer and director of Italian operas of the Baroque period. He died in London on April
14th 1759 aged 74 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
George Frideric Handel was a good friend of Charles Jennens, the owner of Gospall Hall
which was built around the year 1750. Jennens, an artistic man and noted librettist, was
thought to have contributed to the words of "Messiah". Handel was known to have been a
guest at Gospall Hall on a number of occasions, and wrote the music to the hymn entitled
Gospal, to words by Charles Wesley. The Hall was demolished in 1951, the grounds of
which now form part of the Crown Estate. The Gospall Temple was built by Jennens as a
memorial to his friend Edward Holdsworth who died in 1746.