Stained Glass.
n typically defiant fashion, some of the original stained glass hung on to the tracery to survive the onslaught of the blitz, as is shown by this lovely photo below of a window in the north wall, taken by my wife, Bev.
In the early part of the war leading up to the blitz, the potential threat to the cathedral during air-raids was fully realized and certain measures to preserve the buildings heritage were undertaken. One such measure was to remove the 'artistic' stained glass which had greatest value, leaving behind the simple geometrically patterned glass.
At a cost of £600 and several months of work, most of the glass in the apse and the celestory windows above the nave was removed and stored in various places, including the rectory in Hampton Lucy, near Stratford. (Picured right.) Much of the glass originated from the 1400's, and although £600 for such an exercise doesn't seem a large sum today, with inflation it would be worth in the region of one hundred times that figure in the early 21st century.
Some of the saved glass is now stored in the undercroft of the New Cathedral. I've put together a montage on the left containing seven of the pieces displayed there in St. Michael's Hall.
However, not all the glass was recovered. Ironically, taking the medieval glass away from the site of destruction was not enough to keep it safe. Some of it was stolen during the war, and resurfaced in various places. However, it's not all bad news.... some of the glass ended up being given as a gift to the church at Akureyri, Iceland, where the old Coventry glass can still be appreciated by visitors to a much more modern church.
The photograph above was sent to me by Jo Holbourn, who visited the church in 2005. I'm also very grateful to information supplied to me by a lady from Iceland, who tells me that it's the centre pane in the above church picture which contains the glass from Coventry, and that the glass was bought in London by an Icelander named Helgi Zoega... although how it came to be sold is still yet to be fully solved!
For further reading there is a most comprehensive article in the online VIDIMUS magazine all about Coventry's medieval stained glass.
The Coventry glass in Iceland.
On the left is one of the beautiful stained glass windows, which now sits proudly in the Church of Akureyri, Iceland. (See photo above.)
The piece on the right is another lovely example, and this can now be seen in the Church of Áskirkja, which is in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Below are another six examples of glass that originated from St. Michael's in Coventry, all of which now belong to the Church of Áskirkja.
The pieces shown, although stunning to view, are not actually of ancient origin. We learn from an article by David McGrory that these windows were inserted in 1853 in memory of Adelaide, Queen Dowager, widow of King William IV. The more ancient 15th century glass can still be viewed in Coventry, where it is on display in the New Cathedral.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Icelandic lady who has so kindly sent me all these photographs tells me that the church was originally built to imitate a ship, the south side of which is depicted here, representing the stern. She also teaches us that "Áskirkja" means the church on the hill, derived from the Icelandic word "ás" meaning hill.
The north entrance to the Church of Áskirkja, from where you can see the position of the Coventry glass just inside the main doors.
In addition to these beautiful pieces of glass, which have been put to such wonderful use in contemporary Icelandic churches, one piece of the original Coventry Cathedral stained glass ended up being installed in someone's house not far from Áskirkja. An Icelandic journalist has written an article about the glass.
This page last updated on 22nd October 2009