The east window was installed in 1872 as a memorial to the poet William Cowper (1731–1800). The original glass from this window is now in the Lady Chapel window above the Sayer tomb.
The Cowper window is by the firm of Clayton & Bell, one of the most prolific producers of stained glass in the 19th century. The central image is Christ triumphant, crowned as King of Kings. Behind him, Heaven is glimpsed through a circular rainbow above Earthly cities, and saints pay homage as awestruck Roman soldiers fall at Christ’s feet.
The lower parts of the window are hidden behind the stone reredos of the former high altar, but with a step-ladder it is possible to see a stained-glass image of the poet William Cowper (1731–1800), the son of Rev John Cowper, Rector of St Peter’s. William Cowper was born in 1731 at the Rectory on Rectory Lane, Berkhamsted, the son of the Revd John Cowper, rector of this parish (1722–1756). William was a celebrated writer of poetry and Evangelical hymns and his contribution to English Romantic literature is fondly commemorated in Great Berkhamsted. Cowper’s grave is in St. Nicholas’s Church, East Dereham, in Norfolk.
William Cowper is depicted here sitting at his writing desk, surrounded by his beloved pet hares. It is interesting to note that Cowper is flanked by images of King David holding his lyre and the prophet Jeremiah writing on a scroll, perhaps suggesting that Cowper’s sacred work sets him among the prophets and lyricists of the Old Testament. The window bears inscriptions of texts from Cowper’s hymns:
“Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God”
(from The Saviour, what a noble flame)
Far from the world, O Lord, I flee
My song shall bless the Lord of all
The Lord shall be my righteousness
(from Jehovah Our Righteousness)
The old chancel is not normally open to the public
