Cambridge Military Hospital Altar

This display attempts to resemble the original layout of Mary Watts’s altar design, in which three decorated panels were divided by four fluted columns. Each column was topped with a highly decorated boss, embellished with alternating leaf and insect designs. Breeze blocks formed the internal structure of the altar, with terracotta panels fixed to the blocks to create the decorative surface.

The following description, possibly written by Mary Watts herself, explains the decoration of the altar: ‘The ALTAR, itself a symbol of the first sacrament and the only one instituted by Christ Himself – carries these symbolic thoughts – The DOVE – the presence of the Holy Ghost The PEACOCK – the hope of Immortality The VINE – the Christian Tree of Life The POMEGRANATE – the heart casting out its seed for the renewal of life eternal.’

The letters in the roundel on the central panel (A and W) may represent the words 'I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the First and the Last'.

At the back of the altar, separating the cross and candles, were two panels also decorated with pomegranates and encircling vines matching the larger panels below.