Church of Holy Trinity, Bosham

The tapestries for the Altar Frontal and Pulpit Fall are based on an original watercolour by Mark Cazalet and created by West Dean weaver Philip Sanderson, for the church of the Holy Trinity, Bosham.

Mark Cazalet’s design incorporates some images familiar in Christian iconography, but also those of Bosham’s location and history. Kelp and seaweed evokes the sea dependent nature of Bosham’s past and present. The fish illustrates the service the fisherman of Bosham paid to the citizens of Chichester during the Great Plague in 1664. The central image of the net is symbolic of the Christian Church and offers further religious and mystical readings.

Tom Inman, the vicar of Holy Trinity hopes is that the Tapestry will encourage people “to seek to understand the themes displayed and perhaps to discover further subtle messages through the images, tones and colours – to take away something which speaks of the hope and the challenge that our faith provides.”

From Mark’s original watercolour, West Dean weaver Philip Sanderson worked on translating it from painted to woven form. The final altar frontal tapestry is 257 cms x 91 cms and took approximately 10 months to weave. The pulpit fall took approximately six weeks, to produce. Both are woven in wool and linen on a cotton warp.

Phil Sanderson putting the finishing touches to the Altar Frontal tapestry

“The first few days of weaving are very important in ‘setting the tone’ of the tapestry” says Sanderson. “As the weaving progresses it is wound round the bottom beam of the loom so only a fraction of the tapestry is visible at anyone time. After ten months of weaving, the tapestry is cut from the loom and can be seen for the first time in its entirety. Seeing it in its final home at Holy Trinity is a wonderful experience.”

The tapestries will be on display throughout the ‘Ordinary Times’ of year which are from the feast of Candelmas to Ash Wednesday and from the Monday after Pentecost to Advent.

Mark Cazalet is a contemporary British Artist based in London who is currently working with a broad range of materials and themes, from paint and graphic materials in his studio works to mosaic, glass and fabrics in his ecclesiological commissions.

Philip Sanderson is Creative Director of the West Dean Tapestry Studio. His tapestries hang at The New Parliamentary Building in Westminster, the Surrey History Centre in Woking, The Mercers Company in London, St. Richard's Hospital in Chichester and Chelmsford Cathedral.

The church of the Holy Trinity, Bosham, within the Diocese of Chichester is one of the earliest churches in Sussex. Built on what are generally regarded as Roman foundations, this Tenth Century church is one of the most important Saxon churches in the Diocese. One of its most famous features is the chancel arch, which is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry. Its Saxon tower, perhaps the most extant of any in England stands as a landmark for sailors in the Chichester channel.