Ashton in Makerfield Congregational Church WW1 and WW2

The existing memorial is a back-lit amalgam of sections of windows removed from the former church, which was closed, and subsequently demolished, in 1973. The congregation moved into their present premises in 1977. They took with them the main features of the stained glass windows from the former church, most of which were inserted into new frames within the new building. Included among them, set in the northern wall of the chapel, are the two central features of the two lights of the Great War memorial window. There is nothing to indicate the history of the windows. Stained glass panels carrying the dedicatory inscription from the original window, together with similar panels inserted into the windows carrying the WW2 dedications, have been re-used in the present installation in front of the western wall of the chapel, and are set at the bottom of the back-lit frame. Above them is an image of the Good Samaritan tending the wounds of the traveller set upon by thieves. Sketches of the former and present churches appear on panels each side of this.
A description of the window from the newspaper report of its dedication: 'The memorial window is designed to represent the text,' Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life', and shows our Lord presenting the crown of victory to to returned warriors who ar depicted as Crusaders, symbolic of chivalry and the nation's ideal when entering the war'. A three-light stained glass window consisting of a five-petal rose at the centre of which, surrounded by a laurel wreath, is the crown of pain and victory, above two vertical lights. The left-hand light shows our Lord presenting a crown to the returned warrior, with an angel to his left representing womanhood, and her appreciation of the great sacrifices made, while angels hovering in the background represent Mercy and Charity. In the right-hand light two kneeling knights, one holding a Crusader's shield, await their crowns, with an angel behind. The dedication and names are inscribed on the bottom of the windows. Below, a brass tablet carries a further dedication - this is not now on display.