1891 Born on June the 30th in Cookham, Berkshire on the banks of the Thames. He was the eighth surviving child of William Spencer, a piano teacher, and his wife Annie. He was educated at a school run by his sisters and was given his first painting lessons by the artist Dorothy Bailey.

1907 Entered Maidenhead Technical College where his training as an artist began.

1908 It is usually said that Spencer entered the Slade School of Art in this year. However Adrian Glew has discovered that the Slade's records list him as having entered in the year 1907-8. This means that he actually spent five years, not four studying there (1). At the Slade (part of University College London) his contemporaries included Nevinson, Gertler, Bomberg, Paul Nash and William Roberts. He seems to have been very happy there, despite being bullied by the other students who gave him the nickname "Cookham" from his devotion to his birthplace.

1912-15 He painted at home and in 1912 exhibited 'John Donne Arriving in Heaven' and some drawings at Roger Fry's Second Post-impressionist Exhibition at the Grafton Galleries, London.

1915-18 Spencer enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps and subsequently worked as an orderly at Beaufort Hospital, Bristol from July 1915. In August 1916 he was posted to Macedonia where he served with various Field Ambulances before joining the Infantry in August 1917.

1919 He returned to Cookham where he resumed work on 'Swan Upping' which he had left half completed when he enlisted four years previously.

1920-1 Lived with the Slessors at Bourne End, Bucks and later with Henry lamb in Dorset.

1921-2 Stayed with the artist Murhead Bone in Hampshire where he was asked to design a scheme for a war memorial. Although this never came to fruition it triggered the ideas that led to the building & decoration of the chapel at Burghclere, one of the most remarkable artistic achievements of English Painting.

1922 Visited Yugolslavia on a painting holiday with his future in-law's the Carlines. On his return he moved to Hampstead, the area where they lived.

1923-4 Enroled at the Slade for the Spring term of 1923. Later he stayed with Henry Lamb in Poole, Dorset. Here he worked on a mural decoration for a chapel. This was based on his war experiences. Lamb was highly impressed with the idea and introduced him to the Behrands who decided to build a chapel as a memorial to Mary Behrand's brother, a casualty of the war. In October of 1923 he returned to Hampstead where he rented Lamb's studio on the top floor of the Vale Hotel.

1925 He married Hilda Carline at Wangford, Suffolk. Their first daughter, Shirin born.

1926-7 He completed 'The Resurrection, Cookham' which was then exhibited in his first one-man show at the Goupil Gallery between February and March 1927. It was purchased by the Duveen Painting Fund and presented to the Tate Gallery. Spencer then moved to Burghclere to concentrate on the decoration of the Sandham Memorial chapel.

1930 The couple's second daughter, Unity born.

1932 Having completed the chapel he moved back to Lindworth, Cookham. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy and exhibited at the Venice Biennale. In October Dudley Tooth became his agent. It was at this time that he conceived the idea of Church House, which would take as its themes the sacred and the profane in human experience. Although it was never built all of Spencer's subsequent uncommissioned work was intended for this building. Later he included all of his existing work in the scheme.

1933 Visited Switzerland at the invitation of Edward Beddington-Behrens with the intention of painting landscapes. 'Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors' was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg.

1935 Resigned from the Royal Academy after the rejection of 'St Francis and the Birds' and 'The Dustman' by the hanging committee.

1937 Hilda divorced Stanley who then married Patricia Preece, though they never lived together and the marriage was unconsummated. Their honeymoon was spent in St. Ives in Cornwall where Spencer painted extensively. Preece was accompanied by her 'companion' Dorothy Hepworth. Later Spencer re-visited Wangford, scene of his marriage to Hilda.

1938 Exhibited twenty-two paintings at the Venice Biennale. Stayed with John Rothenstein in Hampstead before moving to Adelaide Road. Here he lived a hermit like existence painting the 'Christ in the Wilderness' series.

1939 Stayed at the White hart Inn, Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire with George and Daphne Charlton. He subsequently began an affair with Daphne.

1940 Commissioned by the War Artists' advisory committee to paint scenes of shipbuilding at Lithgow's yard, Port Glasgow.

1942-4 Returned to Cookham in early January where he stayed with a cousin until 1944. He continued to visit Lithgow's yard and work on 'Shipbuilding on the Clyde'. He began work on 'The Resurrection, Port Glagow' which he worked on until 1950.

1945 Returned to Cookham to live in Cliveden View.

1947 Retrospective exhibition at Temple Newsum, Leeds. The Burghclere chapel was presented to the National Trust by the Behrens.

1950 Awarded the CBE. Rejoined the Royal Academy and was elected RA. Hilda died in November.

1954 Visited China as part of a cultural delegation, painted the Ming Tombs.

1955 November-December retrospective exhibition at the Tate Gallery.

1958 Awarded a Knighthood, Hon D Litt from Southhampton University and elected Associate of the Royal College of Art.

1959 Died on the 14th of December at the Canadian War Memorial Hospital, Cliveden, Berkshire.

1. Adrian Glew: 'Stanley Spencer and the Renaissance' unpublished MA dissertation, Birkbeck College, London University.