The pelican brief

Clockwise from top left - The pelican medieval tile; Geoff’s lettering with Bill’s design; embroidering the design; work in progress.

Bill Butler and Geoff Rowswell were asked by Rod, the Vicar, to design and make a new altar frontal for the portable altar, basing their design on one the Priory’s medieval tiles. The image depicting a pelican in its nest with its chicks pecking its breast so the chicks can feed on its blood was chosen. This is a mythical image of the sacrifice of Christ for us all.

Geoff designed and passed the lettering over to Bill who then traced  both the lettering and the image onto terracotta silk using transfer adhesive and machine embroidery.

The final stage will see the image being attached onto cream cloth material and it is hoped that it will be in use later this spring, once the Priory nave re-opens after the floor levelling project.