Walking down the main aisle in St Oswald’s Church, immediately your eye is drawn to the magnificent Christopher Whall stained glass window on your right beyond the south aisle. This window, reputedly amongst one of Whall’s finest tells you a story to which there is a very poignant history, that proved devastating for Ashbourne.
Let me take you back to February 1901, and to Sandybrook Hall. Peveril Turnbull (who was Church Warden at St Oswald’s) lived there with his wife Phyllis and their two daughters, Monica and Dorothea. There was excitement in the air in the Turnbull household, a special occasion to be celebrated, it was their daughters' coming out ball, for which Peveril had purchased a brand new table oil lamp.
As celebrations unfolded Monica and Dorothea were suitably dressed for the evening in their crinoline dresses, their father took hold of his new lamp and walked with it even though he was advised not to do so. In a fleeting single moment the oil lamp fell to the floor and Dorothea’s dress burst into flames, Monica rushed to her aid - desperate to help her sister. Her dress too caught fire.
Their injuries were fatal. Monica died 4th March 1901 and Dorothea died 27th April 1901. Both are buried just a little way from the West Door at St Oswald’s Church. Peveril and Phyllis were naturally devastated by this accident and in their grief commissioned Christopher Whall to produce the stained glass window that you see in their memory.
As a relatively modern addition to the building of St Oswald’s in 1905, this window exemplifies Whall’s talent, very indicative of the Arts and Crafts influence, including the vibrant use of colour - purples, greens, and pinks. The girls represent St Barbara, (Monica on the left), St Dorothy (Dorothea on the right), to which Whall gave these figures their true facial likeness. An assistant working on this window of excellence was Edward Woore. Edward’s great nephew still lives in Ashbourne and family attendance to St Oswald’s continues today.
Peveril and Phyllis Turnbull also gave a beautifully crafted Communion set to St Oswald’s in the memory of Monica and Dorothea. One piece of the set, the chalice is regularly used at our Holy Communion Services, you will see evidence of the chalice in the window, above Monica’s head.
Even at a tender age, it was well recognised that Monica was already a poet of renown. Poignantly, a poem that she wrote on the morning of the accident almost expressed a premonition of her own death. On 9th August 1911 Peveril and Phyllis went on to open a home presented to the Waifs and Strays Society on Windmill Lane in Ashbourne. Such was their dedication to children.
More recently you will notice that the newly refurbished meeting room in the Church Hall has been given the title of the Turnbull Room, not only in memory of Monica and Dorothea who perished, but also in recognition of the generosity that Peveril and Phyliss Turnbull showed St Oswald’s Church and the less fortunate children of the Parish.
The next time you pass by the Turnbull window, do pause for a moment, glance up and admire its beauty.
Anne