Stained Glass Windows

The stained-glass windows pictured here form part of the South chapel in Ryde Cemetery, shown with a shaft of sunlight brightening the room on a cold January day.

The chapel has long since ceased to be used for funeral services on a regular basis, as by our forebears in times past, and which were often reported in the obituaries by the local press.

However, just recently the South chapel came into use once more for a funeral service, thereby once again giving people the opportunity to appreciate the atmospheric reverence that these beautiful windows afford.

Stained-glass

Throughout its thousand-year history the term stained glass has been applied almost exclusively to churches and other significant buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of the modern stained glass artist also include three-dimensional structures and sculptures.

As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The term stained glass is also applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass and then fused to the glass in a kiln. Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass.

The history of the South Chapel Stained-Glass Windows can be found here

Photograph by David Bushell January 2017