The story of this Rose Window
It started in early 2018 with a friend saying “I have some glass in my shed would you like to have a look?” Being curious by nature I went to have a look. What I saw were trays of small pieces of old glass, the lead removed. There was also one complete circular panel with some obviously high-quality workmanship. The beautiful paintwork was obviously by a master of my craft. I was told it was the glass from All Saints Church in Pontardawe, consisting of 17 panels. It was very carefully removed when the church was sold (around 1999) by another local stained-glass artist. She had restored the centre panel plus two more but was unable to continue with the project. It had ended up in this open shed for quite a few years.
Realising that it was an important piece of stained glass I decided to take the glass to my studio and have a good look. I was unsure about taking on the restoration as I could not see where it would go or who would pay me for the hundreds of hours and materials it would take to do it. I then became involved in the set-up of the Pontardawe Heritage Centre and here was an opportunity to have it displayed.
At this point I knew nothing about the maker, about religious symbolism or the church itself. The only photo I had was a very poor photocopy. Please imagine the trays of fragments of glass which had to fit into a seventeen panelled rose window. Like a massive jigsaw puzzle.
After considerable research I discovered that the maker was London based R J Newbery. He features on the Stained Glass in Wales website with around 70 important windows around Wales. However, not the rose window in Pontardawe. I contacted them and sent the photo to them and they confirmed that it appeared to be Newbery’s work, probably his first and only rose window and had never been recorded. The result was that they added it to the website and that it was in the process of restoration.
I continued to research and established that the window was installed in around 1895 and that the church was built by the wealthy steel owner Arthur Gilbertson. I started to arrange the bits of glass and begin the job of re-leading them. The glass fragments were tricky as they ranged between 1 and 6 mm thick, with the panels being in pairs it meant each individual fragment had to be the right way up, so did the images.
In January 2019 I was delighted to have contact from the present owner of the church, who had seen it on the Stained Glass in Wales website. He provided me with a clearer picture of the panels in place. That made the work a bit easier. I was also in touch with the lady who removed the window so carefully, who also filled in a few gaps.
I learned about the religious symbolism. The eight triangular panels depict the crucifixion. The four panels which look life a face with ears are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The centre, not an angel, as I first thought, but a winged man. May be just a bit holy.
The last bit of information that I discovered was that the window was made in memory of Ellen Gilbertson, this lady had fourteen children and sadly passed away aged just 44.
I have completed this work to save this important piece of local history, I never got paid for the hundreds of hours it took me, but I also was never out of pocket. It was all made possible by the many kind donations of money for materials and materials themselves. As promised, I have made a further “Thank you” circular window with the names of the people who have donated. This is now displayed in the exhibition room.
It is perfectly displayed in a custom-made light box made to look like the stone that the window was originally installed in. The church which can still be seen in Uplands, Pontardawe. The light box was made by Jon Harris of Trebanos who travels the world creating unique theatre sets. The display cabinet was funded by Mynnydd y Betws Community Fund.
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