St Davids Cathedral, Pembrokeshire
Address
Cathedral Church of St David, The Pebbles, St Davids, Haverfordwest SA62 6RDTheme
Overview
Twelfth-century cathedral built on an earlier monastic site associated with St David, who was adopted as the patron saint of Wales during the Middle Ages. The cathedral required considerable restoration in the nineteenth century, which was overseen by George Gilbert Scott. Small fragments of coloured glass are all that remains from the medieval period and there is comparatively little nineteenth- and twentieth-century stained glass. The only windows from Scott’s restoration are the four by John Hardman & Co. high in the east wall of the choir, and there are routine windows of the 1920s by C.E. Kempe and Co. at the east and west ends of the cathedral. A window of 1909 by Shrigley & Hunt was given by Arthur Hunt, and in the same chapel a window of 1958 by Carl Edwards can be found
For further information see: Stained Glass in Wales – St Davids Cathedral
Highlight
The Crossing of the Red Sea - west end of the south aisle (baptistry)Artist, maker and date
Designed by Frederick W. Cole and made by William Morris & Co. (Westminster), 1956Reason for highlighting
The pair of round windows at the west end of the aisles are the most striking of all of the windows in the cathedral. The dynamic design of the baptistry window imaginatively depicts the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, with Moses above and the ark of the church, depicting the cathedral, below, with a rich palette of blues and mauves. The corresponding window on the north side consists of symbols from the Book of Revelation.
Artist/maker notes
Frederick Walter Cole (1908-1998) was an apprentice at William Morris & Co before the war and became their chief designer after the war. The studio closed in 1958 and Cole joined Wippell & Co, before setting up his own studio in Fulham in 1961. This ran to 1970, after which he founded the Stained Glass Workshop, Canterbury. He continued designing for the workshop until his death.
Source: Stained Glass Marks & Monograms, complied by Joyce Little, and edited by Angela Goedicke & Margaret Washbourn (NADFAS, 2002)
William Morris & Co. (Westminster) was a stained glass firm in west London established by William Thomas Morris FMGP (1874-1944) in 1901, on the death of his father Richard Morris, who had established the family glazing business. There was inevitably confusion with the famous firm of Morris & Co., but stylistically their output was very different.
Sources:
The Other William Morris by Ruth Cooke, The Journal of Stained Glass, vol. XXIV (2000)
Stained Glass Marks & Monograms, complied by Joyce Little, and edited by Angela Goedicke & Margaret Washbourn (NADFAS, 2002)
Comments by
Martin Crampin