Margery — how I met her.

 In 1983 I got involved with the Ashburnham Stable Family, started by the Revd John Bickersteth — who I think may have been one of the most saintly men I ever met — at his home in Ashburnham, Sussex.

He had inherited the house and grounds of the Ashburnham estate, and chose to develop it into a Christian conference centre, which it still is, but he also lived there with his wife Marlis, in the upstairs of the house which they made into a flat, above the great hall where so many wonderful gatherings for Christian worship and teaching took place as time unfolded.

There was also a stable block adjacent to the main house, which John developed into a prophetic representation of the four gospels.

The stable block consisted of a substantial square enclosed by two facing sets of stabling, a carriage house opposite the entrance, and the entranceway set into a wall, with imposing lanterns set on either side. 

The yard was cobbled, with a fountain at the middle, brick paths running from the central fountain to each of the four sides.

Development according to the vision John has was slow and expensive; I don't think John had much money, just a massive house that needed fixing up, and the stable block.

But his vision (which came into reality) was as follows.

He wanted to create a permanent place for round-the-clock prayer for East Sussex, and a community of prayer, praise and ministry based solidly on the teaching and practice of the New Testament — which came into being as the Ashburnham Stable Family.

The carriage house that occupied one side of the block was the Johannine wing. John's gospel portrays Jesus as the great High Priest, a cosmic priestly figure, and carries the theme of glory and of Jesus as a light coming in to the world. John portrays the cross in terms of glory, the light lifted up. So the Johannine wing was where John (Bickersteth) began, because that was to be the place of prayer. It was made ready for gatherings of worship, and a prayer cabin was added for one-to-one ministry and to maintain a 24/7 presence of prayer, undertaken by the Stable Family.

The entrance-way opposite was the Matthean wing, because Matthew's gospel is the way in to the New Testament. Matthew shows Jesus as a teacher of righteousness and the fulfilment of the calling of Israel, the new Moses, the one who brought into fulfilment what had been intended in the calling of the chosen people. So the big lamps on either side of the entrance acted as reminders of the lamps in King David's temple (I think I've got that right).

As you went in through the entrance, the building on your right was the Marcan wing. Mark's gospel portrays Jesus as the suffering servant, and is a very straightforward and practical gospel. So the Marcan wing housed the kitchens, and I think there was a flat for visitors; it became the hospitality centre for the Stable Family.

The wing opposite that was the Lucan wing. Luke was a doctor and his gospel is known for its compassionate and inclusive approach, promoting the understanding of the Holy Spirit indwelling ordinary people. So that wing became three permanent residences for members of the stable family to live for as long as they were called to be there, the members of each household contributing to the work and ministry of the Stable Family according to their calling.

The cobbled yard was refurbished into the shape of a cross set within a circle — created by the brick path radiating from the central fountain and expressing the Latin motto (of the Carthusian Order) Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, which means "the cross stands while/though the world turns/revolves".

The cobbles were all re-set in such a way that every single one of them was touching its neighbours, emblematic of the unity of all Christian people, the Communion of Saints.

And in the centre of it all was the fountain, representative of the Holy Spirit welling up to eternal life in the core of every Christian soul.

The Ashburnham Stable family was created to pray for the revival of East Sussex. Its members were drawn from around East Sussex, charged with a mission of working and serving in the local church in whichever town or village they lived, but coming together at Ashburnham for fellowship, teaching and prayer, to give them the inner strength often lacking under the leadership of the local churches.

Margery was a member of the Ashburnham Stable Family, and so was I. She was part of the decision-making body that headed it up (the trustees), and she made banners for our worship. She also made stained glass windows in various East Sussex churches, and widely sold postcards of her banners as inspirational and affordable art.

To give you an idea of her style (she trained at the Slade art college in London in the 1950s), here are two of her windows from St James church at Ewhurst Green.

She also had windows at The Sanctuary at Westfield, in the porch of St Clements in Hastings Old Town, and she made the east window for the now closed church of St Anne, in Hollington where I currently live.

And here's a photo of a painting she did as a student at the Slade in the early 50s, which hangs now on the wall in my living room.

In the 1980s I wrote two cantatas with my then husband Roger Wilcock for performance in church — I wrote the words and he wrote the music. Margery designed covers for the performance brochures for the first of them, called Light of the World.

Here's one of the cards she made from her banner designs for the Ashburnham Stable Family. She taught banner-making classes and workshops for churches all around East Sussex.

On the back it says this — so evidently that was her Christmas card to me in 1995.

Towards the end of her life Margery developed macular degeneration. The onset of it began while she was working on the last piece she ever made, drawing on her own font designed for making banners for churches, and her skills as a stained glass designer and maker. It was the cover for the first edition (published by Kingsway in 1992) of The Long Fall.

My daughters Alice and Hebe, artists who knew Margery and greatly respected her work, did the art work for our Humilis Hastings edition of the Hawk & Dove stories. They designed the cover for The Long Fall as a homage to Margery's original.

Margery was an astonishing artist, and a very dear friend. More about her in the next post.