John Hayward in Wiltshire

The Vision of St Hubert 1966. St Mary, Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire, and detail.

Windows designed and made byJohn Hayward are easy to identify just from their style, with distinctive figures, crisp shading and criss crossing leads. Of the three in Wiltshire churches the one in Chilton Foliat from 1966 (above) is the earliest, although to me his work always looks as if it is rooted in the 1950s. It illustrates the story of St Hubert, with a fine stag in the centre where a crucifix hangs between his antlers and the shadowy figures of hunters pass by on a pale blue background.

Mary and Child 1985. St Mary, Collingbourne Kingston, Wiltshire, and detail.

Similarly, the John Hayward window at Collingbourne Kingston (above and below) looks great in its setting, letting in plenty of north light and full of wonderful painted sections and convincing figures. However, it is all a bit of a jumble and, unable to make sense of the imagery (did they once make gloves in Collingbourne Kingston?) I went back to read the blurb in the church leaflet. The window was commissioned in memory of Richard and Marguerita Wilson by their son. Not only do we have their initials and an inscription to them in the design, we also have St Mary holding the church on top of a map of the parish, the Annunciation, the sacraments of Eucharist. Baptism, Ordination and Confirmation all with their own symbols. There’s definitely too much going on here.

St Mary, Collingbourne Kingston. John Hayward window in north choir, detail from the window.

A few years later Hayward made an Annunciation window for Christ Church, Swindon (below), its form is very like the top section of the Collingbourne window. But this one, in a muted golden colour palette, fills the whole of the two lights, with architectural details and folded curtains making a dynamic setting for the beautifully painted figures.

The Annunciation 1987. Christ Church, Swindon, Wiltshire, and detail.

The Church and The Arts 1967. St Peter and Paul, Checkendon, Oxfordshire

Hayward’s window at Checkenden, Oxfordshire (above) is a window in the same vein. Here the background curtain behind the three figures that symbolise writing, painting and music lifts to reveal the virgin and child. The composition is calm and balanced, the colours subtle and harmonious.

It’s not the date they were made, the subject matter used, nor their position with attendant light conditions in the church that has caused the similarities between these two last examples that are simpler than any other Hayward windows I have seen, and all the better for it.

Interior of St Peter and Paul, Checkendon, and detail from John Hayward window.

From Glass to Needlework

Window of the risen Christ and detail showing the little gold head, John Hayward, 1968.

There’s lots of good twentieth century stained glass in the Church of St Mary and St Bartholomew, Hampton in Arden in the West Midlands. The window shown here is by John Hayward - with the unmistakable figures in profile, some hidden in backgrounds made of crisscross lines on blocks of colour. As usual, I prefer the details and the minor characters, for example the little gold head under Christ’s arm, to the overall composition. But the window looks great in its setting (below) with a wonderful bit of coordinated interior decor (how un church like!) in the embroidered cushions on the long bench leading up to the window.

View of the church interior, looking east from the entrance door, showing long bench on the south wall.

There is an impressive information booklet that goes with the needlework, such as you never get for a stained glass window. Not only subject matter - “it depicts the risen Christ, holding aloft the flag, with his angels going out to bring the light of the resurrection to the souls of the departed” - but also details on the design and manufacture, with acknowledgements not only to the donors but also to the frame maker, design tracer, upholsterer and suppliers of the materials (John Cordwell, Robin Watkin, Parkes of Earlsdon and stitches of Solihull). The village needlewomen tell us they made a panel each and the project lasted from 2002-5 (!!!). They write “We were once again privileged to have the inspiration of the Reverend John de Wit, our priest in charge 1994 - 2004, for the design. It was decided that this should link with the window and thus bring the while concept into the body of the church….. One of the challenges has been to maintain the continuity of the designs because they flow from one panel to another and this had to be so exact for the joining of the sections” The concept and the linear version of the design works really well, although inevitably the bench was covered with leaflets and boxes when I was there.

Glass angel by John Hayward, needlepoint angel by Janet Hardcastle

It is interesting to compare the stained glass angels to the needlepoint ones, the hand positions show you which is which. More from the booklet “The canvas on which we worked uses ten stitches to the inch, which made the depiction of the details very taxing. For instance, one stitch in the face of an angel can make a huge difference to the expression!”

Needlepoint angels by Marjorie Iles and Janet Griffiths