The Lady Chapel

Continuing past the Vestry, one can enter the Lady Chapel. This is the devotional heart of the building, dedicated to Mary, mother of Our Lord, and there is a predominance of blue in accordance with tradition. On Holy Days, and other such high seasons, the Altar is clothed in a white frontal with red or white side-curtains as appropriate.

There are three windows within the Lady Chapel. The East Window depicts the four gospellers, surmounted with Christ as the Lamb of God. Hidden by the reredos are the bottom four panels which show the head of a man, lion, ox and eagle, as derived from Ezekiel 1:10 and Revelation 4:7, the symbolic heads of the four Evangelists. Similar representation exists in the east window of the Chancel. The window in the south wall of the Lady Chapel Sanctuary depicts the coats of arms of a local family. Another window in this wall, nearer to the rear of the Chapel, shows the Feeding of the Five Thousand and women and children, and is a memorial to Thomas Sawley, Vicar from 1825 to 1871

Mounted high on the south wall of the Lady Chapel is a large Triptych.   Prior to the 1872-74 re-ordering of the interior of St Oswald's by G E Street, this triptych had been the reredos behind the High Altar.   It is said to predate 1730 and may have been the reredos from the 17th Century re-build of the church, after the Civil War.   

The Triptych depicts Moses and Aaron on Mount Sinai standing either side of the Ten Commandments engraved on their two stone tablets, which Moses had received from Jehovah.   The Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer are depicted on the outer leaves of the Triptych.The 2004  restoration by Hirst Conservation was made possible by local fundraising and grants from the Council for the Care of Churches and the Leche Trust.