A.W.N. Pugin's Stained Glass
The image shown below is a detail from Pugin's windows at St. Paul's Church in Brighton. It shows St. Edward the Confessor. Pugin copied the flat canopy and the vine leaf border from 14th century windows, possibly those in Merton College Chapel in Oxford. Pugin made a great effort to make his windows look as medieval as possible. When he designed windows for the chancel of Jesus College Cambridge, in 1849-50, he studied the deep colours of the medieval windows at Chartres. He also visited other French cathedrals, like Evreux to study their windows.
First Pugin used the firm of Warringtons to make his stained glass, but in 1841 he changed to Willemint, then in 1842 to Wailes and finally in 1845 to Hardmans of Birmingham, who also made the metalwork for his churches
St Mary's College Oscott, near Birmingham, has Pugin's earliest windows made in 1838 by Warrington. They have saints under canopies.
St. Mary's R.C. Church in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, also has glass designed by Pugin in 1838 and made by Warrington in the style of the 16th century.
Pugin built St. Chad's R.C. Cathedral in Birmingham in 1839-41.It still has his High Altar and he designed the stained glass windows in the Chancel and the Lady Chapel which were made by Warrington.
St. Barnabas R.C. Cathedral in Nottingham was built by Pugin in 1841-44. He also designed the windows which were made by Wailes.
Pugin built St. Giles' R.C. Church at Cheadle in Staffordshire in 1840-46. It is his masterpiece, thanks to Lord Shrewsbury who paid for it. Wailes made the stained glass, but every surface is brightly coloured with floor and wall tiles, paint and gilding.
The University Church of St. Mary's in Oxford has two windows designed by
Pugin for George Bartley. Both are 'picture windows' . Instead of single figures
of saints, they have pictures showing
several figures in each light and tall canopies above each scene.
The earlier one, of 1843,
was made by Wailes, in memory of George Bartlett's son. Pugin
shows the boy kneeling in his student's gown. His
parents are shown kneeling opposite. They hold a model of the window, like the donors
in a medieval window, but some of the glass uses colours seldom found in medieval
glass. The other window was made by Hardman in 1848. The detail on the right shows the student's sister
kneeling at the bottom of the window. (St Mary's also has a fine west window by Kempe.)
St. Mary's at Beverley has a west window by Pugin.
St Paul's Church in Brighton has a complete set of Pugin windows. A detail is shown at the top of this page. They have full length figures of saints under canopies in rich colours. Many have the vine leaf borders typical of 14th century glass.
Bolton Abbey in North Yorkshire is a medieval church with some Pugin stained glass.
Pugin built St. Augustine's R. C. Church at Ramsgate in Kent at his own expense and he designed the east window. The church was completed after his death in 1852 by his sons E.W. and P. P. Pugin and his son-in-law J. H. Powell. It was Powell who designed the south window above Pugin's tomb. It has kneeling figures of A. W. N. Pugin and his three wives with their patron saints at the bottom. In the chapel of the Grange, his house next the church, there is a window with kneeling figures of his children. (The Landmark Trust have raised the money needed to restore the Grange.) Colour pictures of many of Pugin's windows can be seen in the magnificent 1994 book on Pugin. Click below for details.