THE STAINED GLASS REPOSITORY


Christ Church, Hampstead Square, Hampstead, North London

Christ Church is the Church of England parish church immediately north east of Hampstead village and is closely linked with the Heath. The present church was built in the Early Gothic style by the architect Samuel Daukes between 1850 and 1852.

No major restoration work had taken place since then and the ravages of time became all too evident. So...in 2015 a major renovation project was begun to restore the building, including its lofty spire, to its former glory.

The West Window, dating from the original building in 1850-52, was in danger of collapsing. Lincolnshire Stained Glass Studio were given the painstaking job of restoring the large window and its 24 beautiful stained glass shields. A further part of the project was to add more stained glass to the Church as examples of the "Gothic Revival" design heritage of the building.

At this point, in early 2019, the Stained Glass Repository was asked for its help in providing appropriate stained glass. It was decided that the initial work would be to a north aisle window and that it should be complimentary to the heraldic work in the West Window. A series of windows from the church of St John the Evangelist, Hallen, Bristol and held in the Stained Glass Repository since 1994, was chosen along with a roundel depicting the head of Christ the King.



      

David Sear, of Lincolnshire Stained Glass, again devised a scheme for the use of the heraldic shields. Reusing the border glass from the fragmented panels and adding red and blue glass to create a border detail, the redesigned window tied in with the vestry windows and the western most window of the south aisle. An amber cathedral background glass supports the shields and creates a warm tone.


   

Coronavirus has had an effect on this project as it has with so many other aspects of life, of course, and the celebrations to accompany the installation of the new window have had to be postponed. It is hoped that November, 2021 will be the new target for the congregation and everyone else involved in the project to enjoy the new window.

Fundraising continues for the last phase of the Grand Restoration which has been made possible by very generous gifts from philanthropic sponsors and contributors.

The Covenant Church of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Maryland, USA

A splendid 5-light East window, 16 feet high and with three 27-inch roundels above, was shipped to an unusual RC community church near Washington DC, after spending 14 years in the cellars of Glaziers Hall. Designed by Henry Holiday in the period 1909-11 and originally in the church of St Mark, Southampton, it was simply too big and too important to be 'shoe-horned' into another church; it had to have a new church built around it.

Which is precisely what the Americans were in the process of doing to accommodate their growing flock.
A number of smaller windows, 5 or 6 feet high, were placed elsewhere.


Holiday window

This is, unfortunately, the only image available of this fine window. It was stitched together from a number of analog images and Photoshopped a little in 2020 to compensate for the earlier formats used to record the contents of the Stained Glass Repository.