Church of St Deiniol, Hawarden, Flintshire
Address
Church of St. Deiniol, Church Lane, Hawarden CH5 3LTRecommended by
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The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Magi, west window of the naveArtist, maker and date
Designed by Edward Burne-Jones and made by Morris & Co., 1898Reason for highlighting
This window is perhaps the most celebrated nineteenth-century stained glass window in Wales. Its special significance is due to it being the last window designed by Edward Burne-Jones and the artist’s own close associations with the Gladstone family.
Artist/maker notes
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) was born in Birmingham and studied at Exeter College, Oxford where he met William Morris, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. Together they created hundreds of stained glass windows that collectively stand as one of the finest artistic achievements of their time. The stature of this formidable artist and designer was recognised after his death when he became the first artist to be given a Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey.
Morris & Co. (1875-1940) was the successor to original business of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. William Morris had always been the driving force behind the ‘Firm’ and he finally determined to remove his earlier partners and to take the business into his own hands, with Burne-Jones as principal designer. The business flourished and continued after Morris’s death, when it also continued to use Burne-Jones designs. It finally closed in 1940.
Sources:
For a brief overview of the two companies see Morris & Co on Wikipedia
The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination by Fiona McCarthy, Faber & Faber, 2011.
William Morris: A Life for Our Time by Fiona MacCarthy (Faber & Faber, 1994)
Burne-Jones Special Issue, The Journal of Stained Glass, Vol. XXXV, 2011
Damozels & Deities Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass 1870-1898 by William Waters and Alastair Carew-Cox (Seraphim Press Ltd, 2017)
Other comments
Largely unknown is a close reproduction of it in a south transept window at St Elli, Llanelli.
A beautiful set of windows made by James Powell & Sons in 1906 were designed by William Richmond for the Gladstone Memorial Chapel, and are a rare example of this important artist’s work in stained glass. The chapel is centred around William and Mary Gladstone’s tomb chest, a fabulous Arts and Crafts masterpiece also designed by Richmond.
Further reading:
Stained Glass in Wales – Church of St Deiniol, Hawarden