Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/67

Rh his life, in the window destined to commemorate the principal facts of that foundation, that in the fifteenth century, when this painted glass was designed, the monks of Great Malvern accounted the "certain hermitage," according to the statement of the prior, in the year 1319, as above related, to have been the germ of that important and flourishing establishment, which at a later time had taken a prominent place amongst the religious institutions situated on the western shore of the Severn.

The remarkable painted glass, to which I would call attention, is to be found in the upper division or story of the clerestory window, nearest to the Jesus chapel, or northern transept. In the elevated position occupied by these representations, they appear scarcely to have attracted notice, the figures being mostly of small dimension; and to these circumstances it is perhaps to be attributed that Habingdon and the writers of later times have wholly neglected so singular a series. The painted glass, which is preserved in the choir of this church, appears to have been executed towards the year 1460: some changes have, in recent times, been made, and the windows on the southern side have been filled with portions collected from the clerestory of the nave, which was of somewhat later date than the choir. The construction of the church, as augmented and renovated in the Perpendicular style, appears to have commenced towards the middle of the fifteenth century; and it is to prior John Malverne, who is first named in the register of Bishop Bourchier, in 1435, that the commencement of this new work may be attributed. Habingdon has recorded that in the window of the clerestory of the choir, on the northern side, nearest to the east end, the kneeling figure of that prior was to be seen, with an inscription commemorative of his benefaction. It no longer remains, as described by Habingdon, but it is possible that the fragment which may still be noticed in the lower part of that window, being the head and upper part of the figure of a Benedictine monk, may be the portraiture of prior Malverne, the founder of the new choir: and it may readily be distinguished by the inscribed scroll over the head,. The following inscription formerly recorded his benefaction,, and although it is not certain that such requests for prayers on behalf of the soul of the