St. CATHERINE’S CHURCH, EAST TILBURY, ESSEX

Our brief for this design was simple: “Lots of light and a Celtic Cross”. This was a dream of a project as we had artistic licence with a large lancet window – 3’ x 8’. Its location high in the West wall did not lend itself to small details so every element was made large. As a millennium project, the Christian Millennium motto was emblazoned from the Cross reaching out of the confines of the window. The elements of water and fire flank the Cross, representing renewal, purification and Baptism; the cluster of 3 triangular bevels represent The Holy Trinity and the canon balls refer to the damage caused to the building by the Spanish Armada that cruised up the Thames, only a matter of metres from the church. The Crown of Thorns breaks up the plane of the white ichthus symbol.

St. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH, BIRDBROOK, ESSEX

During WWII an American Bomber came down in a field near Birdbrook, Essex and a connection between Birdbrook and the American Air Force has remained ever since. The event is subtly reflected in the field of Poppies on which a group of children are dancing. Along with the local wild life and agriculture illustrated throughout the design, there is a sense of continuity and renewal of life after death. This is emphasised by the rainbow illustrating God’s Promise of hope after The Flood.

St. MARY’S CHURCH, RAMSDEN BELLHOUSE, ESSEX

This single-light window was originally going to contain The Good Shepherd, though more as a design exercise to match the Lamb of God window the other side of the North Door than to enhance spiritual enlightenment. Thankfully it was decided to dedicate this to the new millennium and, therefore, a new design. In view of this new attitude, the design was meant to show the Grace of God and Christian Fellowship reaching outwards from the confines of the building to the immediate community and beyond – as illustrated by The Cross breaking through the window. If people were ready to receive His love, they would receive the gifts of creation which are shown emanating from the bottom of the Cross into the hands that are ready to receive.

St. MARY THE VIRGIN CHURCH, SALCOTT-CUM-VIRLEY

This design was for ’The Great Jubilee A.D 2000’ and supplied by The Church. Our job was to place it into the lower section of a window in the north West corner. As a technical exercise, it was very interesting and required much consideration. The entire circle consists of 2 pieces of glass plated together – one red and one blue. Layers of colour are acid-etched away and silver stain applied to achieve the 5 colours of the interlocking doves at the centre. The precise lettering was achieved by sand blasting.

OUR LADY & St. JOSEPH CHURCH, STANFORD-LE-HOPE

Two clients were looking for a way of commemorating their families and to embellish this fairly new low level building. The designs were for the north wall of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament; one depicting ’Penance’, the other ‘Communion’. As the 2 were to sit side by side, they had to harmonize design wise as well and with colour and texture. Unfortunately, they were not large enough to include inscriptions, but these can always be set elsewhere in a written church guide or on a dedication plaque fixed to the wall nearby.

St. FRANCIS, BARKINGSIDE, LONDON

Divided into 4 quadrants by concrete pillars, this circular window sits high above the Altar and was originally glazed with a streaky yellow glass. The new design had to be bold and clear to be seen from a distance and justify its position at the Altar. The Vicar was keen to relate the window to the comings and goings of church life and so it was decided to suggest the services that took place at the Altar. The centre of small glass blobs is to indicate the beginnings of life as cells divide to create a baby which thus leads to its Christening. As the child becomes an adult it chooses a mate and marries, hence the ‘Band of Gold’. The lower 2 quadrants represent the waters of baptism whilst the top 2 quadrants lead our ascent into Heaven at the end of life.

St. MARYS, GREAT WARLEY

This outstanding church was built and decorated as a complete project in the Art Nouveau style by architect Harrison Townsend and artist Reynolds Stephens from 1902-4. All the interior décor was designed as a cohesive scheme but, sadly, a WWII bomb destroyed 10 of the windows in the church including these 2 of the South side. Eight of these were replaced by windows made by various studios including Powells of Whitechapel, which, sadly, were not in keeping with the style of the original scheme. The 2 others were left unreplaced and so it was our job to recreate these 2 single lancets in the style of an artist as yet unknown to us. In a ‘The Studio Magazine 1912’, Peter Cormack of the William Morris Gallery, London found some of the original designs by George Heywood Sumner that were intended for this church. Two were selected and we set about viewing other windows Sumner had made. His particular subtle colouring required study and the glass he had used was all but extinct. A few ‘happy accidents’ with the acid brought forth some good results that enabled the clear background glass to be matched very well. It was an intensive project that took the PCC 2 years to bring to fruition.

St. MARY’S CHURCH, CORRINGHAM

Sadly, this window was designed for the churchwarden who was overseeing the project. We were presented with his initial ideas which we then expanded on. We ‘opened up’ the plane of the window in preference to breaking it down into smaller sections as we decided the centre light should not be visually unconnected from those either side. This gave a lightness to the design as well as letting light into the building.

St. MARY’S CHURCH, LITTLE CANFIELD

This internal stone aperture is very elaborate in design and was never intended to hold glass. The stone mouldings were many and it was tricky enough just deciding which of these to use as a glazing groove for the glass, let alone how to make the leaded panels fit. We took careful and precise templates which resulted in a perfect fit for the many odd shaped panels. Some clever use of divisions meant we could follow the shapes accurately with the divisions being as invisible as possible. A grand technical feat !!