The painted wooden sculpture of Jesus on the Cross with Mary Magdalene was carved by Harry Hems (1842–1916), a celebrated Gothic Revival sculptor.

This moving crucifixion scene was commissioned in memory of Lieutenant-Colonel John Anthony Spreckley, a gold miner and soldier who fought in Southern Africa during Britain’s colonial wars. He was a friend of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouts, who praised the Spreckleys as “heroes of the rebellion” against the Ndebele people – their armed resistance to British occupation of their land in the 1890s. The sculpture’s inscription invites prayers for Spreckley’s soul, and includes a memorial to his wife as well. Spreckley died in 1900 during the Second Boer War.

Today, the sculpture stands as both a devotional artwork and a reminder of the legacies of Empire woven into the fabric of Victorian churches.