The four large windows made by Jonah Jones for the Catholic Church of the English Martyrs at Hillmorton, in Rugby, Warwickshire, have been dismantled and the glasswork subsequently lost for the future.
Jonah made the dalle de verre (slab glass) windows during 1965–66. Each was 30 ft wide and up to 12 ft high at its apex – the largest such windows Jonah made. The windows, based on the theme of the crown of thorns, were part of a series of collaborations between Jonah and the architect E. Bower Norris.
The dalle de verre technique was in its infancy during the 1960s, and unfortunately the structural matrix for the windows proved to be inadequate. The flimsy concrete transoms provided insufficient support for the window panels, and were very poorly bonded at the sides – an architectural rather than creative fault. As a result the lower panels were liable to be crushed by the weight of those above, and when the first transom broke loose it brought the panel above it down.
This small photograph of the exterior (reverse side) of the damaged window shows the smooth surfaces and ends of the loose transom, which had fallen onto the outer ledge immediately below the window. The missing panel above it had fallen into the body of the church.
The south and west windows became unsafe, although the other two windows remained sound. The parish consultative council ultimately took the decision to remove all the windows, which took place over the course of 2012. The glass panels were then stacked in the wrong way (in horizontal layers instead of vertically) on the ground adjacent to the church, resulting in such extensive damage that the artwork has become beyond repair and is a write-off.
All that remains after the windows were wrongly stacked on the ground.
Aidan McRae Thomson, a stained glass artist who attended English Martyrs Church for many years, described Jonah’s windows as “something that inspired and fascinated me from an early age”. He campaigned unavailingly for the windows to be saved, and Scene & Word is grateful to him for his efforts and for the frankly tragic photographs above of the damaged and dismantled glass panels, which he sent us. Scene & Word would also like to thank Fr Malcolm Glaze, the former parish priest, another advocate for the windows, who made it possible for us to record the windows before they were removed.
Click here for photographs by Stephen Brayne of all four windows.