Victorian stained glass

Scotland Yard, the Titanic, Rochdale Town Hall and St James Church Hebden Bridge: a story of Victorian stained glass.

Victorian Stained glass has had, until recently, a very bad press. Yet in the late 1870s the congregation and clergy of St James church, at great cost, embarked on a programme of restoration that resulted in a complete glazing by the firm Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Complete schemes are unusual and this one is particularly well documented through the parish magazine. This degree of evidence is a rarity in the world of Victorian Stained Glass. This lecture looks at the background to the restoration and the social insights that have emerged.

Dave Smalley describes his ‘childish fascination’ with light and glass since lecturing on gemstone identification in the 1970s and 80s. He has been studying stained glass through the Continuing Education Department at the University of York with a personal focus on Victorian glass over the last 8 years. He has given several memorable talks to the Society on a range of topics.