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All the United Kingdom England Selby The Washington Window
AO Edited

The Washington Window

This stained-glass window in an English church bears the coat of arms of George Washington's family.

Selby, England

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Alan Newman
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The Washington Window at Selby Abbey   Tomasz Steifer
  Kognos/CC BY-SA 4.0
Selby Abbey nave   Michael D Beckwith/Public Domain
Selby Abbey choir   Michael D Beckwith/Public Domain
  Michael D Beckwith/Public Domain
Selby Abbey   grassrootsgroundswell/CC BY 2.0
Selby Abbey   Donald Judge/CC BY 2.0
Selby Abbey   JohnArmagh/CC BY-SA 3.0
Up close to the window   jhweller / Atlas Obscura User
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High in the south clerestory of the choir in Selby Abbey, an 11th-century church in Yorkshire, England, is a 14th-century stained glass window. The window may look familiar to residents of Washington D.C., as it resembles the District of Columbia flag. It depicts a coat of arms belonging to one of George Washington's ancestors, the same coat of arms the Washington family used after moving to America.

It's believed to commemorate senior clergyman, John Wessington, the 15th-century Prior of Durham. Wessington is believed to be the most distinguished of Washington's ancestors. The coat of arms is comprised of two red bands and three red stars. 

Although it's large and decorated like a cathedral (the design of Selby Abbey was loosely based on Durham Cathedral), the church is only deemed a parish church. The abbey was the first monastic building established in northern England after the Norman conquest. It's amazing the building survived the Reformation.

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Abbeys George Washington Stained Glass Windows Churches Sacred Spaces

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This window is not the only important stained glass in the church. The east window is one of the largest examples in England of Jesse Window, which depicts the family tree of Jesus.

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Dr Alan P Newman

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Michelle Cassidy, jhweller

  • Michelle Cassidy
  • jhweller

Published

January 20, 2020

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  • Selby Abbey
The Washington Window
7B The Crescent
Selby, England, YO8 4PU
United Kingdom
53.784065, -1.067085
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