Lowson Memorial Parish Church, Forfar, Angus
Address
Lowson Memorial Parish Church, 1 Jamieson Street, Forfar DD8 2HYRecommended by
Highlight
East window and north and south transept windowsArtist, maker and date
Douglas Strachan, 1914Reason for highlighting
Excellent stained glass windows by Douglas Strachan. The north and south transept windows, together with the east window, while individually complete were conceived as a whole. This is some of Strachan’s best work. Huge in size and very strong design.
Artist/maker notes
Robert Douglas Strachan (1875-1950) was born in Aberdeen and initially trained as an artist. Indeed Strachan admitted later in life that he had been slow to realise that stained glass would be the best outlet for his artistic vision. It was a vision that enabled him to become the foremost British stained glass artist of the generation after Christopher Whall. From 1909 to 1911 he was head of the Crafts Section at the recently founded Edinburgh College of Art, before handing over to his brother, Alexander, through pressure of work. His windows are found throughout Scotland and England, and are recognisable for their bold use of colour, and strong sculptural design and use of lead. Overseas he is renowned for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Sources:
In Praise of Douglas Strachan by Peter Cormack, Journal of Stained Glass, Vol. XXX, 2006
Arts & Crafts Stained Glass by Peter Cormack (Yale University Press for The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2015)
ECA Glass Alumni Exhibition Catalogue, pages 11-12
Other comments
Another window by Douglas Strachan, also of 1914, fills the west window or vestibule.
In 2019 the church also acquired further panels made by Strachan from the former St Luke’s and St John’s Church in Montrose.