These paintings were blessed by Fr. Anthony Glaysher after Mass on 21st May, 2014; the anniversary of the consecration of St. Mary’s by Bishop Thomas Grant, in 1863. They depict the following:-

1. The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. This reflects the patronage of our church in Ryde; – the first in England to bear this dedication. An arrow leads from the heart of Our Lady to seven sorrowful events in her life; among these are the flight into Egypt, the finding in the temple and Christ’s Passion and death at Calvary
2. Our Lady of Walsingham, – set in the Norfolk landscape. This is in recognition of the ministry on the Island of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and the Episcopal ministry of Bishop Egan, who was consecrated and enthroned as Bishop of Portsmouth on the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, 2012.
3. The front of the Lady altar in St. Mary’s, (designed by Augustus Pugin), with its depiction of Our Lady of Walsingham. This carving of Our Lady seated on a Saxon throne, holding the Child Jesus, is almost identical to the Walsingham image of Mary. It was copied by Pugin from the ancient Walsingham seal, and it pre-dates the restoration of the Norfolk shrine
4. The ceiling panels of the Lady Chapel which depict scenes from the Litany of Our Lady, (painted by Nathaniel Westlake R.A. in 1894); in commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the chapel.

These watercolours were sponsored by our society and painted by Catholic artist, Madeleine Sarah Beard, M.A. Litt (Cantab), from Petworth. Madeleine is one of our society’s mainland members. She held an exhibition of her paintings at St. Mary’s, Ryde on the Feast of the Annunciation, 2003.