Stained Glass in Wales

Stained glass windows are present in most communities, most commonly in places of worship. They are sometimes treasured by local communities and congregations, but have often been poorly understood art historically and culturally.

The importance of medieval stained glass has often been recognised, but more modern windows have frequently been overlooked because of the large amount of stained glass produced from the second half of the nineteenth century. This stained glass lends visual and material presence to hundreds of buildings that are emblematic of our architectural heritage. Stained glass windows encapsulate unique historical and cultural narratives in striking and immersive visual form, and serve as monuments to local patronage and religious and civic history. They are the product of artists, designers and craftspeople, usually working collaboratively, who also exported their work around the world.

In the second half of the twentieth century Wales has been prominent in the production of innovative architectural stained glass, principally as a result of the Architectural Stained Glass Department established in Swansea. Former students of Swansea College of Art have gained international acclaim and some continue to be based in Wales, where their work can be found in a wide range of buildings.

Extensive research into the field of stained glass has been underway at the Centre since the 2000s, resulting in many publications and an extensive online catalogue. The ’Stained Glass in Wales’ project was established in 2009 with the aim of building on the online database created as part of the AHRC ‘Imaging the Bible in Wales’ project (2005–8), run in collaboration with the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Hundreds of stained glass windows were photographed by Martin Crampin for this project and included on the online project database. In association with consultant Nigel Callaghan of Technoleg Taliesin, this database was transformed into one capable of holding multiple collections of material that could be published as distinct sites. These sites share common material such as artist biographies, notes on locations and artworks relevant to more than one collection. This facilitated the creation of an online catalogue of stained glass in Wales, which was launched in 2011, and subsequent collections of visual material relevant to Wales, namely the archive of stained glass at Swansea College of Art, and the imagery of saints in Wales.

Several hundred additional windows were photographed and catalogued on the ‘Stained Glass in Wales’ catalogue in 2010–11, adding to the existing database with the help of the University of Wales Welsh Industries Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Friends of Friendless Churches. This extended the range of material to include non-biblical subjects such as Welsh saints and abstract works, as well as the inclusion of medieval glass from Wales and additional contemporary work, which were outside of the dates of the AHRC project (1825–1975). 

Although the ‘Stained Glass in Wales’ project officially came to an end in October 2011, the catalogue benefits from ongoing research by Martin Crampin attributing and dating stained glass across the country, providing additional information about the makers responsible for the wealth of stained glass in Wales. Further material has been recorded by Martin Crampin in the course of researching a range of publications, and the resource continues to grow, with additions and improvements funded by the Glaziers Trust and the Gibbs Trust. Originally hosted by our partners at the National Library of Wales, the Centre now provides hosting for the resource, and the project has benefited from the ongoing technical support provided by Nigel Callaghan.

The aims of the ‘Stained Glass in Wales’ project were further enhanced by the publication of Stained Glass from Welsh Churches by Martin Crampin in 2014. He has also published numerous smaller studies on the stained glass of individual churches, and more widely on stained glass of all periods.