Notes from the Archives: Stained Glass and Woolwich Work
Stained Glass and Woolwich Work
On the evening of Monday 3rd of May 1937, at 7.30, there was a special meeting of the Council in the Town Hall in Woolwich. The Mayor, Councillor Miss Mable Crout, J.P. and Councillor W Barefoot presided as the first ever Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Woolwich was awarded to Mr Charles Herbert Grinling, B. A. in recognition of many years of service to the Borough. It must have been a significant moment for him as he received the certificate, presented to him in a casket made from the timbers of the old ship Arethusa, perhaps only marred by the absence of his wife Ethel, who died in 1929.
Today, the name C H Grinling may not be quite so well known, but for around 50 years, until his death on May 24th 1947, at the age of 86, he was prominent in Woolwich and the Labour movement. After finishing at Oxford, C H Grinling was ordained deacon in 1884 and he was one of the original residents at Toynbee Hall. In 1889 he came to Woolwich as Secretary of the local Charity Organisation Society.
He became a Labour Councillor when Woolwich became a Metropolitan Borough in 1900. He was involved, often as chairman, in a wide range of activities and associations aiming to improve housing, education, health services and the provision of open spaces for recreation. His name is particularly associated with the Woolwich Council of Social Service which he established in 1925. Its aim was to survey and co-ordinate existing social services and its headquarters was his own home at 71 Rectory Place. The obituary of his wife Ethel, in the Times, 12th January 1929, gives an impression of amiable chaos and much activity with visitors from all walks of life. The rooms are described as overflowing with committees and paperwork. George Bernard Shaw was a visitor to their home and among Grinling’s papers is a cutting from 1910 showing a stained glass window, designed by Caroline Townsend, depicting Mr Shaw among a group of Fabians.
The image neatly unites C H Grinling’s politics and his hobby. He avidly collected information on Stained Glass and the KAS holds some of his notes. The notes may have come to the KAS via Alan Grove, who knew Grinling from Plumstead Museum.
Despite being an enthusiastic member of the Woolwich and District Antiquarian Society, and Surrey Archaeological Society, Grinling appears only to have published one item on stained glass: Ancient Stained Glass in Oxford in 1883, although it is clear from his papers that he gave lectures with lantern slides in the late 1890s and early 1900s. He had a particular interest in stained glass in Kent. In around 1898 he started a survey of old glass in Kent. He sent a standard questionnaire to vicars and kept detailed notes on locations as well as visiting many churches himself. In 1898 it appears that he visited more than 30 churches in the county. He also had volunteers helping him track down notes on individual churches from secondary sources; one was a Miss Lyle, another a Miss Ingles. Unfortunately, the notes suffered somewhat in the fire at Maidstone Museum. The Kent notes are damaged in places and some items appear to have been either destroyed, lost or misplaced in the process of rescue.
In a letter he invites a fellow enthusiast to come and look through his notes on stained glass and says that he has more than twenty files. We are left with seven rather battered red Stone’s World’s Files and a few loose bundles. The notes are those of a true enthusiast, who collected on all aspects of stained glass.
The remaining notes are on Kent, Warwick, France and one file on ‘other Countries’, including Italy. Much of the material is in the form of guidebooks, notes from secondary sources and newspaper cuttings.
The project on Kent appears to have been planned as a research project with publication in mind. Miss Ingles is recommended for the editorial work in one letter, but publication never materialised, squeezed out no doubt by the demands of his many other activities.
Pernille Richards