St Saviour Church in Shanklin has a Stained Glass Window dedicated to a Scout
Sid asked Barry to tell him the story of the stained glass window in St Saviours Church in Shanklin. It's the only stained glass Church window in the world dedicated to a Scout. Barry did acknowledge that there is, however, a much newer painted glass window dedicated to a Scout Troop in America.
St Saviour on the Cliff is a pretty church situated just back from the cliff edge in Shanklin.
It's slightly crumbling here and there, but it is very special to Shanklin Scouts (where MaC was Skip, many years ago).
Go round to the right of the church, into the car park
Just beyond the east door is a set of 3 stained glass windows.
In the middle window is what looks like a Scout, wearing his hat, with what looks like a staff behind him.
The church is very quiet, there's little passing traffic, and it looks quite cosy in the summer sun.
And there is the window. The section on the left is labeled "David", the one in the middle is "Called to higher service". and the one on the right is "St Mark".
At the bottom of the windows are 3 texts which read "To the Glory of God and the memory of".... "B.P. Scout Mark Bennett Stokes-Roberts who died 11th November 1925 aged 13 1/2 years R.I.P." .... "This window is dedicated by his parents"
Mark features in the central image "Called to higher service".
The image is called "The Pathfinder - Christ with a Scout" by Ernest Stafford Carlos (1883-1917). This painting depicts Percy Greaves with the hand of Christ on his shoulder to emphasise the religious or spiritual dimension to Scouting. This painting by Carlos is most well known as a print of the painting has featured on the set of Coronation Street since 1961, on the wall behind Ken Barlow's front door....
Mark's funeral
Mark
was the only child of Mr. & Mrs. A.B. Stokes-Roberts, of the National &
Provincial Bank, High Street, Shanklin. Mark died at the age of 14 and his
parents commissioned a stained glass window to commemorate his life. A brief
description of his funeral service is detailed below: -
Mark was laid to rest in Shanklin cemetery following a service at St. Saviour’s church. Reverend A.E. Kirkland who was Headmaster and Scoutmaster of the Belmont School, Ventnor, and District Commissioner for South-East Wight Boy Scout Association conducted the service (Mark had been a pupil at Belmont School and also a Scout at 1st. Shanklin Troop). Representatives from 1st. Shanklin Guides, Scouts & Rovers, 2nd Shanklin Guides (Upper Chine School), 3rd. Shanklin Guides and Scouts from the Shanklin Troop, plus members of the Wroxall section attended and formed a guard of honour near the Church entrance, whilst members of the Belmont Troop escorted the coffin and others followed carrying wreaths.
The service was of a special order and of an impressive description, and the choir, that included several Cubs and Scouts, led the singing.
The Reverend A.E. Kirkland, in the course of a touching address said: - We are here today not to sorrow for, but to thank God for the life, the character, the example of Mark Bennett Stokes-Roberts. Forgive me if I appear personal in what I say, but I must speak as I think and feel, for it has been my privilege to have very intimate relations with Mark these past three years as his Schoolmaster, and his Scoutmaster, and what I prize and value most, his personal friend Mark was a typical English schoolboy, representing all that is best in school life. He was, if I may so put it, dedicated to his school, and his school became everything to him. He was a boy of real merit with outstanding gifts, especially with regard to poetry. By a strange coincidence it was on Armistice Day three years ago that he was enrolled as a Scout, and he has passed through the various stages of a Scout, ending as a Patrol Leader, A Scout is something far more than a boy dressed up in a certain uniform; to be a Scout means to live a life based on the Scout Law and Scout Promises. Mark lived this life, and he was always a wonderful example of what a Scout should be. But I like to think of Mark as my close personal intimate friend. Every Scoutmaster and Schoolmaster must long to feel that he can claim such a relationship with the boys under his care, but it is not always given to a Schoolmaster to enter into the inner chamber of a boy’s heart, as has been my privilege with Mark. As long as I live I shall always cherish and remember those happy moments together, moments far too sacred to ever be disclosed to the vulgar gaze of the outside world. But from my knowledge of Mark as my friend one thing stands out and that is his devotion to his religion. With Mark God came absolutely first. His religion was not empty show, but the very essence of life. He knew, as would some of us, the power and value of prayer. Let me mention just two ways in which his religion was manifested in his life. First, in his kindly nature. Nobody has ever heard an unkindly remark fall from the lips of Mark. It certainly was not in him to harm another’s feelings. Then there was his deep humility. I say so without fear of contradiction that Mark was the most popular boy in the school both with boys and staff, and this popularity was won, not by any outstanding merits but by his sheer goodness. There was only one person who did not know of this popularity and that was Mark himself. Jesus said “he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” and Mark has been exalted. We cannot help thinking of those whose hearts have been made sad by the Home Call of Mark, and I think this large and representative congregation proves how the heart of Shanklin beats as one today in sympathy. But may I very tenderly in the name of Mark’s Master try just to give one word of comfort. The gardener goes into his garden with knife in hand to gather the choicest blooms and he seeks the best flowers, to become “cut flowers” and these cut flowers are packed in hamper and basket to be sent away for a higher use in hospitals, slums and sick rooms. The cut flower always has a higher, better use than the flower that remains in the garden bed. The Divine Gardener has walked in His garden and seen one of the choicest flowers and cut it down, yea, before it has hardly passed from a bud into a flower. Mark is God’s Cut Flower. In the Scouts we have a secret sign, a circle with a dot in the middle, which signifies “Gone Home”. We describe that circle today. When we think of Mark, death loses it’s meaning, Mark has just “gone home”. After all, the purpose of our being in the world is to make our little corner of it a better place because of our having been here. It takes five times as long a life as Mark’s to fulfil their life purpose. Mark has indeed made his little corner of the world a better place by his presence in it. That I know and we thank God for it. So today we do not grieve our loss, but we thank God for such a sweet beautiful life, and go forth determined to follow in his steps that we might be equally ready the call comes for us to “Go Home.”
This is the only photo we have of Mark.
Re-dedication
Just ahead of the anniversary of Mark's death, in Scouting Centenary year 2007, Shanklin Scouts organised a service of re-dedication of the window.
The church was nearly full of Scouts, parents and members of the community.
Group Scout leader Carol holds a kneeler with a Scout Fleur-de-lys which was also dedicated during the service.
Shanklin Scouts with East Wight District Chaplain Alan and the vicar of St Saviours.
Group flags by the window.
Group Scout leader Carol and Regional Commissioner Martin.
Mark's Grave
A little while later, Scouting Active Support member John and a Scout tended to Mark's grave and planted some bulbs. Another quiet part of Shanklin: from Mark's grave you can see Culver Cliffs at the north of the bay. Mark liked poetry and written around his grave is one of his poems:
“Time” comes – it goes – and very soon,
is vanished like a toy balloon:
‘tis sad it never comes again,
try all you can it’s quite in vain.
John starts digging in a familiar shape
The bulbs? They're in a circle with a dot in the middle, making the Scout symbol for "Gone Home".