st. peter’s at monkwearmouth was the birthplace of stained glass in the UK – the first building to use this revolutionary material with medieval craftsmen being brought from france to do the work. and so in keeping with this heritage the windows designed by myself and rachel welford – who also handmade the panels at the national glass centre opposite the church – use cutting edge techniques such waterjet cutting and fusing, mirror, sandblasting and printing. this is thought to be the first time these combined techniques have been used in an eccleasiastical setting.the windows are inspired by the treatise ‘a reckoning of time’ written in 725AD by the venerable bede who grew up at the monastery at st peters. the 12 windows all round in the octagonal building are formed from 72 panels that express observations about the passage of time found in bede’s writing. text is from the old and new testaments relating to nature and the seasons and was chosen by the congregation at st. peters.a coloured band runs through all 12 windows based on the medieval units used to record the passage of time. the windows were part of a project at st. peters which won the northern design award.
