File:Saint Mary Magdalene, Ickleton, Cambridgshire. 1929.jpg

English: Crucifixion with St. Mary Magdalene and St. Etheldreda by Margaret Edith Aldrich Rope.

Left Hand Light Saint Mary Magdalene, to whom the Church is dedicated: She is standing holding the alabaster pot of ointment with which she anointed our Lord. Her cloak is of purple – the colour of Penitence. Behind her is the empty tomb (to the left) with the three empty crosses on Calvary over it, and on the right she is meeting our Lord in the Garden after she had been early in the morning to the tomb and found it empty. The shield over Saint Mary Magdalene is the Arms of Lewis and Beddoes. In the circle at the bottom of the light is Saint Mary Magdalene washing her Lord’s feet and wiping them with her hair at the feast given by Simon. At the table are seated two guests looking on with astonishment and disapproval. In the small circle at the top of the light (on the left) are the ship in which the Saint and her brother and sister (Lazarus and Mary of Bethany) sailed to Provence. In the centre circle is the Sacred Heart showing the love of our Lord for Mary and all mankind. In the right hand circle is the alabaster box of ointment.

Centre Light: The Crucifixion: on either side of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin and Saint John. On the ground is the spear with which our Lord’s side was pierced and the sponge on a reed with which the soldiers offered him vinegar to drink. The shield over the cross has on the emblem of the Trinity. At the extreme top of the light are three small circles. The centre one is the Chalice and Host. In the left hand circle is the seamless robe and in the right hand circle the dice with which the soldiers cast lots for the robe. In the circle underneath the Crucifixion is the Annunciation. The Angel Gabriel appearing to the Blessed Virgin with the message that she is chosen to be the mother of the Incarnate Son of God and her acceptance and answer, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is on the right of the circle. On a quarry above the circle are the letters “J.M.” Jesus, Mary. On the very small circle at the bottom of the light in the border is the word “AVE”, the first word of the Angel’s salutation.

Tracery At the extreme top is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, rays of light coming down. Below are two celestial crowns, and the Pelican feeding its young from its breast (type of the Blessed Sacrament), also the Agnus Dei (The Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.)

Right Hand Light: Saint Etheldreda, Patroness of the diocese and Abbess of the Monastery which she founded at Ely. She is clothed in the black habit and veil of the Benedictine Order. In the right hand is her Crozier and she holds a model of Ely Cathedral in her left. Over her habit she has a cloak of blue lined ermine, and on her head a crown to show her royal rank (daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia and afterwards a Queen). Five springs of water are seen on the ground at her feet. They are said to be still in the meadow in which she was baptised by St. Felix. The small scene behind her is of her flight from a convent pursued by her husband and his armed followers after he had given his permission for her to retire there. She and her two handmaids took refuge on a hill and the sea came out of its natural channel and surrounded the hill. For seven days the tide protected them, the king meanwhile growing tired went away. After that, St. Etheldreda and her handmaids proceeded on their journey to Ely. The circle at the bottom of the light shows an incident of the same journey. Tired with the journey the queen lay down by the wayside to rest and sleep. When she awoke, her pilgrim’s staff (which she had fixed by her side in the ground) had budded and was bearing leaves. Afterwards she built a church on this site in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Over the large figure of the Saint are the Arms of the diocese and above (in the small circles) are the emblems. A saucer with a crown is in the middle circle; it is the emblem of Saint Etheldreda. To the left is the raven of Saint Benedict, and to the right the book of his Rule; these, because she was a Benedictine.

The two stained glass artists named Margaret Rope were first cousins, granddaughters of George Rope of Grove Farm, Blaxhall, Suffolk (1814-1912) and his wife Anne (née Pope) (29/3/1821-1/10/1882). Neither married: both were baptised Anglicans but died Roman Catholics.

The younger Margaret was the 5th child of Arthur Mingay Rope (himself George and Anne's 5th child: 1850-1945) and Agnes Maud (née Aldrich: 1855-1943). She was born on 29th July 1891 and christened Margaret Edith at St Margaret's Church, Leiston, Suffolk on 25th August. She died in March 1988.

Born into a farming family at Leiston on the Suffolk coast, Margaret Edith Rope found herself among artistic relatives at Leiston and Blaxhall, Suffolk: her uncle, George Thomas Rope, landscape painter and Royal Academician; her aunt Ellen Mary, sculptor; sister Dorothy, also a sculptor. In the family, her nickname was "Tor", for tortoise. She was later to use a tortoise to sign some of her windows.

She was first educated by an aunt and later at Wimbledon High School, Chelsea School of Art and LCC Central School of Arts & Crafts (where she specialised in stained glass under Karl Parsons & Alfred J. Drury).