Stained Glass Inscriptions

Whenever I see beautiful lettering decorating the walls of a church I think what a good idea it is to use meaningful texts to embellish a church interior. The inscriptions on stained glass windows however, are rarely as interesting to me, usually being an account of who commissioned the window and when they died placed in a predella type panel at the bottom.

Left: St Winifred’s Church, Manaton, Devon. Detail of window by Frank Brangwyn 1927 Right: St Andrew’s Church, Cullompton, Devon. Detail of window by GER Smith c 1950

Some examples from twentieth century windows seen on recent church visits (above and below) show a variety of lettering style with borders and backgrounds, and a tendency to run the sentences across the two or three lights in each window so it is hard to make sense of the narrative. I prefer the inscription, light on a dark ground, by Robert Anning Bell (below left) where you read a complete sentence in one pane and find out when the person commemorated was born.

Left: St Paul de Leon Church, Paul, Cornwall. Detail of window by Robert Anning Bell 1917 Right: St.Matthew’s Church, Midgham, Berkshire. Detail of window by Francis Skeat 1955

St Margaret’s Church, Knook, Wiltshire. East windows by Alexander Gibbs 1874.

This wall of windows (above) in a tiny church restored by William Butterfield in 1874 with windows made by Alexander Gibbs, shows how far apart the parts of the sentence can be, with Lady Heytesbury’s name split either side of the altar. The lettering, in rows separated by bars of red glass, is truly a part of the design, colourful and legible from a distance.

At Heytesbury in the same parish is the large church of St Peter and St Paul, also restored by William Butterfield with windows made to his designs by Gibbs. Here, the panel of text is truly spectacular (below) in departure board style, with triple rows of coloured glass between the lines of white and yellow writing.

St Peter and Paul Church, Heytesbury, Wiltshire. Detail of north window by Alexander Gibbs, 1867

The arrangement of these stripes of writing, taking up vertical space in one narrow window light, reminded me of the one in St Nicholas, East Grafton (below). Here there are coloured bands at the bottom of the panel and patterns at the top, the script is surprisingly easy to read and the message is meaningful as well as decorative.

St Nicholas Church, East Grafton, Wiltshire. Detail of East window by Heaton, Butler and Baine 1888.

My Life in Black and White

Last week, from Monday the 3rd to Sunday the 9th of September, I posted a daily photo on twitter recording my life in black and white, following the rules ‘no humans’, ‘no explanations’. This enjoyable ‘challenge’ did made me think about my week in a different way. So I’ve put the seven days together along with a few extra shots and some rule breaking explanations.

Day 1: Driving through the Cotswolds to the site of my latest commission in a house with an amazing view. Classic bit of church nonsense in St David, Moreton on Marsh where a Kempe window is obscured by the stack of chairs.

Day 2: Oxford Road, Manchester, and what would FMB think if he saw this place now? An early breakfast meeting so Gemini Cafe was closed. View from the offices of the old hospital building opposite.

Day 3: Sandblasting tests on a farm with a view near Fairford, Gloucestershire. Day 4: Studio window. Day 5: Studio workbench. I realise yet again that a productive working day does not produce such an interesting photo.

Day 6: A walk in Savernake Forest. Day 7: A walk in the Pewsey Vale. Breaking out into colour and humans for the last shot of the weekend with the knowledge that black and white is not really my thing.

New Favourite Detail

View fullsize

Carvings around the doors of St Mary, Chilton Foliat

The new favourite detail is from St. Mary, Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire where there was an open door (what a great latch) and smiles on the faces of the carved figures around it. Opposite the south door, in a two light stained glass window made by James Powell & Sons in 1931, is the lovely little interior scene below, showing the young Mary with her mother Saint Anne.

Lower right hand panel from James Powell & Sons 1931 window

The figures are engaging and have just the right amount of illustrative simplicity,  they are set off by a background, with two sizes of chair and a traditional flooring pattern, that is similarly clean and crisp. I kept returning to this window without really knowing why I liked it - it's not my usual type of thing! In this church there are various styles of stained glass in smallish windows and these provide interesting comparisons.

Vision of St. Hubert by John Hayward 1966

First there is this John Hayward window from the 1960s, full of wonderful details but, as usual, so messy in its composition. I love the background figures and the shapes on the ground, the feet of St. Hubert and the stag are shown above covered in subtle layers of paint and sgraffito lines. I have always found this painting style depressing, it amounts to covering beautiful transparent coloured glass with a grey film and then scratching it off to let tiny bits of light through - the opposite of crisp and simple lines.

St Cecilia, designed by A.E. Buss, made by Goddard & Gibbs in 1976

I have included this little St Cecilia window for nostalgic reasons as she looks so 1970s which is when I started making stained glass. But I also find her a bit sentimental - like the little landscape beside her. I hope that's the cottage that Fred, Nellie, Lionel & Elsie lived in, I like the confident way the scene is painted, going across the coloured borders of the glass.

Blessed Virgin Mary & Baby Jesus by Bell & Beckham 1872

We looked at this window for a long time, there's a lot to enjoy in the beautiful rich colours and the ornate pattern making. The inscription below, the canopy above, the background and border patterns all work well together. But the figures with their fixed expressions don't have the charm of those in my new favourite detail.

Window by Thomas Willement 1844, with memorial to Francis Hugh Leyborne Popham, aged 5 months

Two pairs of windows are made of translucent glass with stencilled oak tree details and red borders, two others have the same vibrant red background and a pattern of vines. Here are two good examples of patterned botanical windows. When seen together, they really enhance the space and provide a wonderful backdrop to the memorials in the church. But it's harder to do a good stained glass window with figurative subject matter as the other windows by Thomas Willement in this church - too ghastly even to photograph - demonstrate.

St Luke & BVM in St Michael, Shalbourne 1995

On the way home we stopped at Shalbourne to see this window made in 1995 by Hanry Haig to Karl Parson's design. I knew I wasn't going to like it as I'd seen illustrations of the really floppy and weak-featured BVM in my guide book. It provides more food for thought - how difficult it is to get the figures right. As you would expect from these two artists there are some fabulous details in the painting, texture and use of subtle glass, and the way the emblems (St Luke's bull shown above) fit in to the overall composition.