M. E. Aldrich Rope
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Margaret Edith Rope, known as M. E. Aldrich Rope (29 July 1891 – 9 March 1988) was an English stained-glass artist in the
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
tradition active between 1910 and 1964. She was a cousin of Margaret Agnes Rope of
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
, another English stained-glass artist in the same tradition active from 1910 until the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. By comparison, she was the more prolific as an artist, with an approach that evolved in her later years from a recognisable Arts and Crafts school style into something simpler and more modern.


Life

Margaret Agnes Rope and Margaret Edith Rope were cousins, sharing a grandfather, George Rope of Grove Farm,
Blaxhall Blaxhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. Located around south-west of Leiston and Aldeburgh, in 2007 its population was estimated to be 220, measured at 194 in the 2011 Census.
,
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
(1814–1912) and grandmother, Anne (née Pope) (1821–1882). The younger Margaret was the fifth child of Arthur Mingay Rope (himself George and Anne's fifth child: 1850–1945) and Agnes Maud (née Aldrich: 1855–1943), born on 29 July 1891. She had a number of artistic relatives in
Leiston Leiston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...
and Blaxhall, Suffolk. Apart from her cousin Margaret Agnes Rope, she had an uncle, George Thomas Rope, R. A., a landscape painter and naturalist, an aunt Ellen Mary Rope, sculptor, and a sister Dorothy, another sculptor. Another cousin was
Henry Edward George Rope Henry Edward George Rope (Father Harry Rope) (23 October 18801 March 1978) was a writer, poet, editor and priest widely known in the Roman Catholic Church in his long lifetime. He was the eldest brother of Margaret Agnes Rope, stained-glass ...
, later to become a prominent Roman Catholic priest, writer and archivist. Her nickname in the family was "Tor", for
tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...
, and she used a tortoise to sign some of her windows, particularly in her later years. Rope was educated at Wimbledon High School, Chelsea School of Art, and the LCC Central School of Arts and Crafts, where she specialised in stained glass under
Karl Parsons Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Early life, 1884 – 1898 Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th a ...
and
Alfred Drury Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts an ...
. From about 1911, she worked at
The Glass House (Fulham) The Glass House building was a "purpose-built stained-glass studio and workshop" for stained glass artists in Fulham, London. Having gone into partnership in 1897, Mary Lowndes and Alfred Drury (stained glass artist), Alfred Drury had The Glass H ...
with her cousin, Margaret Agnes Rope. For example, they worked together on the set of windows for SS Peter and Paul,
Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...
. To distinguish herself from her namesake cousin, she used the professional name of M. E. Aldrich Rope (incorporating her mother's maiden name) or M. E. A. Rope. One of her friends was J. Harold Gibbons (church architect) and this connection led to her first major commission for
St Chad's Church, Far Headingley St Chad's Church, Far Headingley is the parish church of Far Headingley in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The church is Grade II* listed in Gothic Revival style. The dedication is to Chad of Mercia, who was bishop of York and died in AD 672. I ...
,
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, which is among her greatest works. Rope joined the Women’s Land Army in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. For much of her active artistic life she lived in various houses in Deodar Road,
Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...
, which was something of an artists' colony in that period. Around 1926 she moved to No. 61, also occupied by stained glass artists
Caroline Townshend Caroline Charlotte Townshend (1878–1944) was a British stained glass artist of the Arts and Crafts Movement. She trained at Slade School of Fine Art and Central School of Arts and Crafts before becoming a pupil of Christopher Whall. She desi ...
and
Joan Howson Joan Howson (1885–1964) was a British stained glass artist of the Arts and Crafts movement. She trained at the Liverpool School of Art before becoming a student and apprentice to Caroline Townshend. They later developed a lifelong partnershi ...
. She was a close friend of stained glass artist
Wilhelmina Geddes Wilhelmina Geddes HRUA (25 May 1887 – 10 August 1955) was an Irish stained glass artist who was an important figure within the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and also the twentieth-century British stained glass revival. Notable works include wi ...
. Later, during World War II, she moved to No. 81, until it was bombed. She also cared for evacuee children at three hospitals in North Wales during World War II with Townshend & Howson, before moving to
Storrington Storrington is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Storrington and Sullington, in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. Storrington lies at the foot of the north side of the South Downs. it had a population of around 6 ...
in Sussex. In the post-war period she was at No. 89, where she had a studio, workshop and kiln (also used by
Rachel de Montmorency Rachel de Montmorency, née Rachel Marion Tancock (15 July 1891 – 15 November 1961), was an English painter and artist working in stained glass. She learned about stained glass when she worked for artist Christopher Whall in the 1910s and 192 ...
). She shared the house with Clare Dawson, a friend and pupil. Late in life, she became a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. In mid-1978, at the age of 87, she left Putney and returned to live on the family farm in Suffolk. She died on 9 March 1988, aged 96, having suffered a protracted period of
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
.


Works

Spanning a period of over 50 years, her artistic production was largely destined for Anglican churches (especially Anglo-Catholic), with a few Roman Catholic ones as well. Listed first are windows in the United Kingdom, followed by those in other countries, in alphabetical order of county or country. Inaccessible windows have been omitted. Asterisks indicate windows of particular importance.


Gallery

File:Creation_window_whole_St_Chad.jpg, Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923 File:Left side Creation window.jpg, Detail from the Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923: Left hand light File:Left_side_angel_S.Chad.jpg, Detail from the Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923 File:Right hand light Creation Leeds.jpg, Detail from the Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923: Right hand light File:Pano Leeds centre adameve.jpg, Detail from the Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923: Adam & Eve File:Pano Leeds right centre middle.jpg, Detail from the Creation window, S.Chad, Far Headingley, Leeds, 1923:Deer in Paradise File:Blaxhall_porch_window.jpg, Window by M. E. Aldrich Rope (left) and Margaret Agnes Rope (right) in the period when they shared a studio at
the Glass House Glass house or glass houses may refer to: Architecture * Greenhouse, a building where plants are cultivated * Glass works or glasshouse, a manufactory building used for glassblowing * Glasshouse (British Army), a term for a military prison in the ...
File:Panorama 2 St Matthew shopped.jpg, S.Matthew window in S.Margaret, Leiston, Suffolk, memorial to her parents File:Sandy pyghtle.jpg, Detail from S.Matthew window in S.Margaret, Leiston, Suffolk, showing the Minsmere marshes and ruined chapel File:S LAF.jpg, Detail from S.Matthew window in S.Margaret, Leiston, Suffolk, showing her childhood home, Lower Abbey Farm, Leiston, Suffolk File:Clippesby Suffer little children.JPG, S.Peter, Clippesby: Detail of "Suffer little children to come unto me" (first commission, 1919) File:Tor 3 martyrs Kesgrave.jpg, 3 local English Catholic martyrs, a theme more typical of Margaret Agnes Rope, at Kesgrave Catholic church, near Ipswich, Suffolk File:Coventry St John Baptist bottom half.jpg, East window, S.John, Coventry, Warwickshire, a late large commission: lower half - "As in Adam all die" File:Coventry St John Baptist top half.jpg, East window, S.John, Coventry, Warwickshire, a late large commission: upper half - Annunciation File:Dick whittington.jpg, Student piece: Dick Whittington


References


Further reading

Peter Cormack: ''Women Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement'': catalogue of an exhibition at the William Morris Gallery, published by London Borough of Waltham Forest Libraries and Arts Department, 1985.


External links


Suffolk Artists - ROPE, Margaret EdithROPE Margaret Edith Aldrich 1891-1988 , Artist BiographiesMargaret Rope stained glassStained Glass Windows for a Firm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rope, ME English stained glass artists and manufacturers Australian stained glass artists and manufacturers Arts and Crafts movement artists 20th-century English artists 1891 births 1988 deaths People from Leiston 20th-century English women artists