Nat Gould

John Gould Window At Repton School

Pears Hall at Repton School in Derbyshire was completed in 1886, commemorating the headmastership of Dr Steuart Adoplhus Pears from 1854 to 1874. The stained glass east window in the hall was donated by the Reverend John Gould 1849-1920, who was housemaster of Latham House.

The Gould window is of the finest quality, made by James Powell and Son, the best craftsmen of their day. Its fifteen lights include images of the 1557 founder Sir John Port and his executor Sir Richard Harpur (1).

The images in the top five lights are those of St Chad, bishop of Mercia and founder of the See of Lichfield; St Guthlac in whose honour a shrine was erected in the medieval Repton Priory; Queen Matilda, founder of Repton Priory; St Werburgh, the first abbess of the priory; and St Wystan, a Mercian prince murdered in 849 and in whose honour a shrine was placed in the crypt of Repton church (2).

The middle lights show the armorial bearings of the the following: the See of Lichfield; Philip and Mary, in whose reign Repton School was founded; Sir John Port, founder of Repton School in 1557; James I, who granted the school Charter in 1621; and the See of Southwell, in which diocese Repton was situated at the time when the window was created (3).

The lowest lights show the figures of Sir Thomas Gerard; George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon; Sir John Port; Sir Thomas Stanhope; and Sir Richard Harpur.

Founder Sir John Port died without any son to succeed him but left three daughters. Sir Thomas Gerard married the eldest daughter Elizabeth Port, George Hastings married the second daughter Dorothy Port, and Sir Thomas Stanhope married Margaret Port.

Sir Richard Harpur was the relative and executor of Sir John Port (4).

1. Records and Reminiscences of Repton edited by G.S. Messiter (1907) pages 12 and 13.
2. St Wystan's Church, Repton: a Guide and History by H.M. Taylor (1989, revised 2002 by M. Biddle, B Kyølbye-Biddle and S. Medcalf) pages 3 and 4.
3. Before 1884 Repton was in the Diocese of Lichfield. Since 1927 it has been within the Diocese of Derby.
4. The Baronetage of England W. Betham (1801) page 61; Complete Baronetage edited by G.E. Cockayne volume II (1902) page 2.
The window was photographed by kind permission of Repton School.