Moorcock & Key: window in St Thomas More Catholic Church, Sheldon
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Moorcock & Key: window in St Thomas More Catholic Church, Sheldon by A J Paxton as part of the Geograph project.
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Moorcock & Key: window in St Thomas More Catholic Church, Sheldon
Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 9 Sep 2023
This is a rebus, a heraldic pun. The moorcock appeared on the arms of Sir Thomas More, who became St Thomas More when he was canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1935, four hundred years after More's execution for high treason. More's crime was, essentially, refusing to accept King Henry VIII as supreme over the English Church rather than the Pope. The moorcock is fiercely defending a key, one of the pair of St Peter's keys that symbolise the Papacy in Rome. The glass is by John Chrestien. A moorcock is not a male moorhen but a grouse, a quite different bird. A conventional bust of More, carved in wood, can be seen elsewhere in the church.
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Image Location
Latitude
52.455975
Longitude
-1.782231