Two Windows at Worcester Cathedral / January 2, 2020 by Sasha Ward

The great west window: from the quire, top of left hand lights, detail from first (left) light

The west window at Worcester Cathedral was designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1875 during his restoration of the cathedral and made by Hardmans. Its subject is The Creation, with the story of Adam and Eve in the central lights. It has been recently restored and and is looking wonderful and clean, with rich colour and detail flowing across the eight vertical window lights in a pattern of circles.

Zooming in on the window in the photos above and below below, I start by appreciating the overall composition, then find my particular favourite bits which all happen to be weather related. There are the two dramatic rainbow circles (above centre), the top one ringed by angels holding rainbow globes, the bottom one ringed by another circle of red and white glass pieces falling as ice, snow, rain and hail.

Bottom of left hand lights, detail from second light

Detail from seventh light, bottom of right hand lights

The right hand side of the window features the animal kingdom and, at the top, a beautiful circle with planets, stars and comets (below right). One of the six circles next to this scene (sixth light, below) shows how the signs of the zodiac form the next ring in the overall composition, while also combining with an angel to make a wonderful picture with painted borders and flowers around the rim, a device used around every circle to great effect.

Detail from sixth light, top of right hand lights

A pattern made of circles is always a favourite with me - as described in my last blog post. However, this window is full of wonder from the angels in the top tracery (below left) right down to the bottom, where you can find the famous pink giraffe (below right).

Detail from the top tracery, bottom of central lights

In the Cathedral cloister is a window by the artist Mark Cazalet that is etched, engraved and sandblasted on three sides of the clear glass panels that are made up as double glazed units. It’s hard to see the overall picture from the inside against the backdrop of the cathedral, and typically for a millennium window, the subject matter is varied. It includes depictions of people with some connection to the cathedral who led an inspired Christian life. The drawing and the details are amazing, there are so many different textures, marks and tones in the glass which you can see well when you look up through the panel tops to the sky. You can’t help thinking that the window needs a clearer backdrop (or a clearer design) to get a full appreciation of the beautiful drawings that are so skilfully applied to the glass.

Millennium window in the south cloister, detail from right hand panel

Detail from left hand panel, top windows right hand side

Pugin Patterns / September 14, 2017 by Sasha Ward

Since a visit to Pugin's house and church in Ramsgate, I've had the picture of these roundels (above) on my wall to remind me about good stained glass design. They are from a series in the cloister of St. Augustine's Church, and were designed between 1846 and 1858 either by Augustus Pugin or his son in law John Hardman Powell. Their design shows how Pugin used plant forms as flat patterns to fill up the space they were intended to enrich, keeping them formalised and abstract rather than three-dimensional. As our guide to his house, The Grange, commented 'no Pugin, no William Morris'.

Windows in South Aisle West, Pugin Chantry South and Lady Chapel East

The church interior is fabulous, both in terms of the integrated design details and furnishings and, as we were invited to notice, by the way that every view is interesting. The layout is unexpected, the windows are all spectacular and full of meaningful details. In the three pictures above, I have tried to show them in their architectural context. The top lights were all made in 1848 and 1849, while the lower panels are from the 1850s and 60s. Pugin died in 1852, like the roundels the later lower panels were designed by John Hardman Powell from the firm Hardman of Birmingham who were the makers of Pugin's stained glass from 1845.

Wallpaper fragments and the reprinted version in a different colourway

Seeing Pugin's wallpaper design somewhere had made me want to visit the house. The scraps that have been found and preserved (above left) and the version that has been reprinted and hung in the hall all use great colour combinations. The colours continue in the painted borders in the chapel, and the bird pattern reappears around a stained glass map of Thanet in a sitting room window. What I like about this house are the details and the links between the decorative finishes.

Chapel window with Pugin portraits & coloured border: sitting room window — Chapel window with Pugin portraits & coloured border: sitting room window

Pugin's two sons, Edward and Peter Paul, became architects too, and made alterations to the house and church. They are shown in the bottom of one of the chapel windows (below), the other one (above) shows Pugin on one side and his third wife and daughters on the other in traditional pose and in clear, bright colours.