Rosemary Morgan BA Hons, Deputy Custos at Great Malvern Priory
Further details of Great Malvern Priory may be found on their excellent website, which includes a tour. A catalogue of the windows may be found here.
Rosemary is the Deputy Custos at Great Malvern Priory. After spending 6 months as a house wife, heady days, she decided that cooking the most wonderful pies for her adoring husband wasn't fulfilling enough. Now she spends her time in the Priory welcoming the public, showing them the beautiful medieval stained glass windows and setting up for services. After her time at Warwick University, studying English, drinking tea in the Chaplaincy and being Focus Social Secretary, Rosemary is ideally suited to being a Custos.
Rosemary loves the Priory Church for its witness in the Heart of Malvern down the ages. From its roots as a Benedictine monastery, the Church has come a long way to being the Parish Church of St Mary and St Michael. Following the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the Parishoners bought the church for £20, they had to pay in two installments. Curiously the state of the parish finances have helped to preserve the origional fabric of the church. There was no money to pull down and replace the 'papish ornaments' so the beautiful stained glass had to stay. The picture below is from a series of the Nine Orders of Angels.
As well as having some of the most beautiful stained glass in the country, the Priory has a fine collection of 500 year old Misericords. These are seats which were perched on during the monks many services (latin: misericordia, act of mercy). They have ornate carvings underneath with scenes from the year or from mythology.
We have a lot of photos of the Priory and Tower in our photo archive.
Of course Rosemary and I are good Baptists at heart are members of Malvern Baptist Church.
Rosemary's latest cv is here.
