Joseph also appears in the first and last of the four alabaster panels which represent the Cardinal Virtues – Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance in the retable at the rear of the sanctuary, in front of the reredos, designed by Augustus Pugin and carved by Theodore Phyffers, immediately below the East Window.
The retable was part of a memorial High Altar, installed in 1921 to commemorate the 68 men of the parish who died in the First World War.
The first panel shows the betrothal of Mary and Joseph and represents Prudence as exemplified by care for the future by doing the will of God, while the last panel represents Temperance, as represented by the life of the Holy Family in Nazareth.
Mary is shown with a skein of flax, while the child Jesus is helping Joseph and is carrying two pieces of wood on his shoulder in a cross shape, foreshadowing His passion.
