Methodist Church, Kilsyth

Some time ago, the Methodist Church in Kilsyth asked me to evaluate a circular window from their old church.

The congregation had decided that they needed to sell the too-large, too-drafty church building so they could build a new one more suited to their purposes.  They now wanted to make use of the glass they had been able to preserve from the original building.

We went through several possibilities ranging from refurbishing the round window and placing it on the wall; the use of the three colours to create a cross-like design in each of three windows on the uphill side of the new building and such like.  Each was an attempt to keep the costs as low as possible.

Further discussion within the congregation and between the property committee and me led to a more ambitious project.  It became clear that one of the objectives of the new building was to be open to the community in a variety of ways.  They also wanted the Methodist Church in Scotland symbol represented and, of course, the cross.  From the discussions, I suggested one of the windows should represent an open door.  I presented some sketches of how the existing glass could be used and combined with new glass to achieve the results.

The congregation considered these and came up with a modified set of images which I worked on.  These modifications were agreed, and I began building the panels for installation against the existing double-glazed windows.

Installation was not difficult, as the windows are not high in the walls.

The congregation is pleased with the result and so am I.

The complete installation

The image in the central window, using streaky glass for the colour and the existing glass for the background.

The right window image using flashed and acid etched blue and red glass. Streaky and original glass form the background.

The open door image in the left window using streaky, painted and stained glass together with the original glass.

St Mary's, Liss

While on holiday in Hampshire this Summer I took the opportunity to visit some churches.  One of them was St Mary's.  This was built in the mid to late 19th century.  

Station Road side with entrance beyond the chapel

The tower was added later — designed by Edward Maufe, the architect of Guildford Cathedral.

Church yard and tower

As you enter the church the bell tower is on the left with a nice ceiling and the framework for the bell ropes.

Turning back toward the East, you are presented with a nice timbered roof, the colour of which complements the almost uniform white of the walls.

As a result of the time of day and amount of sunlight, my photographs of the East window were over exposed.  They are typical of late nineteenth century windows.  

The other windows at the sides of the chancel are of the same nature as the East window.

The windows here depict St Stephen on the left and St John on the right.

Slightly further into the church there are a group of small clerestory windows above the chapel, of which this is an example.

These are possibly the most charming of the earlier windows in the church.  The remainder of the clerestory windows which are largely within the main body of the church are quarry glazed in this pattern.

The main body of the church contains a number of smaller windows in the North and south aisles of various dates.  Among them are a number of memorial windows depicting various biblical figures.

Daniel Window

St Paul Window

David Window, after 1915

Then, toward the rear of the church are two modern windows.  These are more interesting windows to me as they seem to be responding to the artistic developments of the period.

Window dedicated to Lt. Col. Grubb who died in 1934

Window dedicated to the Rector S N Sedgwick who also died in 1934

This is the most interesting window in the whole church for me.  It is relatively small — only slightly over a metre tall, but is lively in its depiction of the subjects and has a lot of technical interest to me.

A further explanation of this interest will be in another blog post.