Cosgrove Church Vestments

The Vestments

Cosgrove Church commissioned a local Christian artist and vestment designer from Deanshanger, Yvonne Bell, to make three sets of vestments. All are made from Panama fabric in wool and polyester from a mill in Yorkshire.

Each set is comprised of a Stole, Chasuble, Lectern Fall and Altar Frontal. Yvonne works in painted silk and appliqué work.


The green set, for ordinary Church time, shows a design of vines and grapes inspired by the carving on the front of the pulpit at Cosgrove. The altar frontal shows a tortoiseshell butterfly like those that roost in the tower at Cosgrove.




The white set, for Feast Days, is in Yvonne’s “stained glass” technique, whereby outlines are piped onto silk and then the silk shapes are filled in by painting. The white design is in rainbow colours with lilies, a traditional symbol of St Mary.




The purple set, for Advent and Lent, has a design called “The Cosgrove Cross”.
It shows a cross in the process of its growth and formation and was designed especially for the village by Yvonne.