The Church of S. Margaret of Scotland is the parish church for Brookfield on the southern edge of the Middlesbrough conurbation. It stands on a large island inside The Oval and is well known as it lies on a favourite short cut between Low Lane and Acklam Road.
The parish is linked with sister churches at Stainton and Hilton, both of which also have Church Micro caches set by me.
I have been unable to find any history or descriptive detail on this modern church which was dedicated in 1961 by Dr. Michael Ramsey, just before he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. (It seems appropriate that I create this page as I taught at the Ian Ramsey CofE School in Stockton for 10 years before my retirement in 2011). The only details of note seem to be the church's place in the community and the stained glass window.
The St. Margaret Window
The St Margaret window on the eastern side of the nave was designed by Ann Sotheran of York. It depicts St. Margaret with many references to her life.
Margaret is the centre holding a book. She was said to have carried her copy of the gospels with her at all times. The cross of St. Andrew is prominent and Margaret’s coat of arms. She rebuilt the church at St. Andrew’s and set up a ferry service to get people there (Queensferry) and these appear just below the St. Andrew’s Cross. To the left of St. Margaret is the Abbey at Dunfermline built by Margaret and Malcolm and where they lived. She is depicted kneeling in prayer because she was so devout and there is also a section of needlework because she set up a school of needlework in Scotland. She is shown in the lowest panel feeding a group of orphans, one of her many daily acts. Her six sons are shown with their father—three of them were Kings of Scotland and her two daughters are shown below Margaret. At the centre of the window is a daisy ( a Marguerite) a symbol of innocence and purity with a pearl at the centre. St Margaret is known as the Pearl of Scotland.
This beautiful window was bought for for the church by the late Amy Fisher
(Detail)
A picture of the full window can be found via the link in the pictures below.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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