St Paul's Cathedral, London
Address
Cathedral Church of St Paul, St. Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8ADTheme
Overview
Perhaps the most iconic cathedral in the country, but one famously short of stained glass. However, there is fine work by Brian Thomas and Caroline Benyon, with the former particulalry noted for his windows in the American Memorial Chapel behind the High Altar.
Highlight
OBE Centenary WindowArtist, maker and date
Caroline Benyon, 2017Reason for highlighting
The most recent addition to the cathedral’s glass was made to mark the centenary of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, when a beautiful new window, made by Caroline Benyon, was installed in the OBE Chapel.
Artist/maker notes
Caroline Benyon FMGP (1948-2021) attended Hornsey College of Art and served a stained glass apprenticeship under her father Carl Edwards FMGP for whom she worked at the Fulham Glass House where she painted his design for the Great West Window of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and cut and painted a window for Washington Anglican Cathedral designed by Rowan Lecompte. In 1990 she opened her own studio where she designed and made windows applying Arts and Crafts principles to contemporary design. During more than two decades as Chairman of the BSMGP Council she worked to promote stained glass as an important public art form as well as a craft, and to introduce its rich and fascinating history to a wider world.
Sources:
Benyon Stained Glass website
Caroline Benyon obituary by Peter Cormack for The Contemporary Glass Society
Comments by
Peter Hildebrand