Stained Glass at Holy Trinity Parish Church

And God said, let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good.
(Genesis 1:3-4).

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world:

he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.

(John 8:12).

 

Whether its imagery depicts mediaeval religious figures and narratives, or contemporary abstract concepts and emotions, ecclesiastical stained glass has for centuries acted as a powerful metaphor for the first act of God’s creation, and for God’s son, Jesus Christ, as ‘Light of the World’.

It is a unique and beguiling artform in which the artist paints with an ever-changing and eternally-living light: guided, constrained, and – in the best cases – inspired, by the shape, colour and diffractive properties of the glass itself; by the building in which the work is to be installed; and even by the window’s structural skeleton.

There are six stained glass windows at Holy Trinity, Ashford-in-the-Water: three were installed following the major renovation of the church in 1870; and the other three were made in the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Details and photographs of the stained glass windows may be found in a recent 36-page full-colour brochure, available on the church bookstall, or directly from the author.

The Cottingham Window, 1880. Wm. Morris & Co.

 

The Haworth Window, ca. 1880. Clayton & Bell.

 

The Morewood Window, ca 1875. Messrs Heaton, Butler & Bayne.

 

The Tinsley Window, 1953. AK Nicholson.

 

The Mary Window, 1960. Francis Skeat.

The Olivier Window, 2001. Flore Sivell (née Vignet).

Acknowledgements

The author of these notes, Ian Pykett, is indebted to Peter Cormack, MBE FSA HonFMGP, Vice-President of the British Society of Master Glass-Painters, for his attribution of the makers of the Morewood and Haworth windows. The photography is the work of Martin Crampin.

Many more details and photographs of the stained glass windows may be found in a recent 36-page full-colour brochure, available on the church bookstall, or directly from the author.