Ashdown Park Hotel, East Sussex
Address
Ashdown Park Hotel, Wych Cross, Nr Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5JRRecommended by
Highlight
All the windows of the former chancel of the Chapel of Our Lady at the Convent of Notre Dame, which is now the hotel’s Richard Townley Suite.Artist, maker and date
Designed by Harry Clarke and made at Joshua Clarke & Sons, 1925Reason for highlighting
A series of 8 spectacular windows that are reputed to have thirty-five different shades of blue. One of a handful of examples in this country of this major Irish artist.
Artist/maker notes
Henry Patrick ‘Harry’ Clarke (1889-1931) was born in Dublin and apprenticed in his father’s stained glass business. He also studied at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, as well as travelling to London and France. In the process he absorbed the qualities of the medieval glaziers, along with contemporary artistic themes to create windows that are some of the most distinctive examples of the art.
J Clarke & Sons / Harry Clarke Studios. The firm established by Harry Clarke’s father in 1886 as a church decorating business. In 1892 the firm extended its activities into stained glass, acting as agent for Mayer & Co, Munich. Harry and his brother took over the business on the death of their father in 1921, by which time it had a thriving business in Ireland, along with overseas sales to Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
In 1930 the business was split, with the church decoration business continuing to use the old name, while the stained glass activities continued as Harry Clarke Studios. That business continued after Harry Clarke’s death, initially under the management of Charles B Simmons and Richard King, and finally William J Dowling from 1940 until the studio closed in 1973.
Sources
Harry Clarke: The Life & Work by Nicola Gordon Bowe, The History Press Ltd, Revised, Updated Edition, 2012
Harry Clarke and Artistic Visions of the New Irish State, Edited by Angela Griffiths, Marguerite Helmers & Róisín Kennedy, Irish Academic Press, 2019
Other comments
There is an interesting comparison to be made with another set of windows, also from 1925, in the former Lady Chapel. These are by Geoffrey Webb and of a very different aesthetic . An image of one of the windows is on the Artists page.