Glass signatures

There are lots of good things in the Red House, Bexleyheath where Jane and William Morris lived after their marriage, including two sets of stained glass windows that seem to have been shoved together in the patchwork style at a later period.  This internal glazed door with scratched signatures, including May Morris', looked very beautiful in the space.

I am thinking of doing something similar with visitors to Kelmscott who would like to leave their mark on a piece of glass.

One visitor this week told me the interesting story of "The Moving Church" in Biggin Hill. This was built in the 1950s by the Vicar, Vivian Symons, from a quite different church in Peckham and he engraved the windows himself with a dentist's drill. Are there any pictures of them out there?

Glass provenances

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The finished stained glass window (420 x 910 mm), photographed outside today. I've made it for an auction at The Society of Antiquaries in aid of Kelmscott Manor. The version of the window below shows the provenances of samples and offcuts that I used to make the window, all from my glass scrap box. Like a quilt made of patches from old clothes, this window is full of memories for me. I hope that knowing the origins of these pieces will make it more interesting and therefore more desirable for other people too. Click on the images if you want to see them close up.

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Local windows

Above left: a window depicting The Good Shepherd in Buscot church, designed by Edward Burne Jones in 1892. Bottom right: the shepherd's feet. Top right: another pair of interesting feet from a later Morris & Co. window in the same church.

Both churches on this post are close to Kelmscott and the River Thames, their interiors are strikingly different.

Inglesham Church was saved from unsympathetic restorations by William Morris in the late 19th Century and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Nothing I have read about this church mentions the windows, I think they are perfect for the place. 

Some drawings

Photos, plans and some of my drawings in the Brewhouse. What a great place to work.

My drawing from one of the attic windows and today's drawing of the Manor from the lane that leads down to the River Thames.

Drawing around the Manor

My first week here was in the Easter holidays so I had some young visitors. One of them was Aza, whose drawings of things that interested him in the corners of Kelmscott Manor you can see above. 

With half term coming up I hope that I have more visitors, of all ages, who like drawing and  make me guess what they have drawn and remember where I've seen it. Paper and pencils available from The Brewhouse.