Jane Gray (b.1931)

All Saints Church, Lightwater, Surrey, Design for Stained Glass Window (1990)

Signed, dated and studio stamp verso.

All Saints Church in Lightwater, Surrey was built and dedicated in 1903. Prior to this, services were held in Florence Laundry in Guildford Road as, at that time, Lightwater was a small hamlet. With the development of nurseries and cottages to house the influx of workers that followed soon after, the Conventional District of All Saints’ was formed in 1931. Before this, All Saints Church had been a daughter church of Windlesham. A Priest-in-Charge was appointed shortly after the split in 1931 and a vestry extension was added to the building. This window commemorates the church’s organist, Catherine Challen, and features symbols associated with St Cecilia in acknowledgement of her musical contribution. The window was installed in 1991.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Mary’s Church, Sullington, Design for Stained Glass Window (1992)

Signed, dated and studio stamp verso.

The little church of St Mary’s, Sullington, has laid nestled beneath the Sussex Downs for almost a thousand years, within the bounds of an even older yew grove. The tower and the nave date back to c.1050 but were altered in the Norman period and again in thee 12th and 13th centuries.This small window pays remembrance to the local carpenter and verger. The design incorporates carpenters’ tools, peacock feathers from the peacocks in the neighbouring Manor House who often joined the church services, the Church’s communion chalice, and a view of the Sussex Downs. This window was installed in 1992.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

Design for Stained Glass Panel in a Private House (1990)

Signed, dated and studio stamp verso.

This design for a staircase window in a private house features the owner’s favourite flowers, including Daffodils, Irises and Poppies, and is typical of Gray’s secular designs which were often highly colourful and often floral-centric. The window was installed in 1991.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

Christ Church, Bicton, Shropshire, Design for Stained Glass Window (2005)

Signed, dated and studio stamp verso.

Christ Church in Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury is a fine example of an early Victorian church, built in 1854 by Edward Haycock Snr in the Early English style with many lancet features. This stained glass window above the chancel arch was commissioned to celebrate the new millennium.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Lawrence Church, Weston under Penyard, Design for Stained Glass Window (1999)

Signed, dated and studio stamp verso.

St Catherine’s Church, Penrith is a Puginian Gothic town church, built by Fr George Haydock of Cottam and other Catholic notables in the early 19th century in the 14th century Gothic style. The church and its substantial presbytery, built in 1853, adjoin the churchyard of the Anglican parish church. This window was installed in 1992.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Paul’s Church, Warwick, Design for One of Two Stained Glass Windows (1991)

Studio stamp and notes in artist's hand verso.

Rapid population expansion in Warwick in the early 1800s, due to the opening of the canal and industrialisation, saw the churchyards of St Mary and St Nicholas unable to cope. In 1823 both churches petitioned the Bishop of Worcester for extra burial space, but it wasn’t until 1918 that the Coventry diocese was finally created. A cemetery and chapel, known as St Mary’s Episcopal Chapel were built in 1824 on the site where St Paul’s sits today but was used exclusively for burials. In 1844 the Parish of St Paul's was formed and the church was consecrated on 26th July 1844 by the Bishop of Worcester. This window was installed in 1992.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

Gatton Church, nr Redhill, Surrey, Design for Stained Glass Window (1979)

Dated. Signed verso.

A church has existed in this Surrey parish since the Doomsday Survey in 1086 but the present Church dates back to the 13th century, undergoing extensive alterations in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Notably, in 1834, the pulpit and altar, bought from Nuremberg, were hopefully attributed to Albrecht Dürer; the carved doors had travelled from Rouen; the presbytery stalls from a disestablished monastery in Ghent, the altar rails from Tongeren; and the stained glass for the windows, and the wainscoting of the nave and carved canopies had come from Aarschot, near Leuven. This tiny church window was one of Gray’s smallest commissions. Her brief was to include the church at the heart of the Gatton agricultural community, and she did, supplementing this with illustrations of corn, oats, barley, poppies, bees, butterflies, ladybirds, a caterpillar and a grasshopper, alongside small roundels set amongst these containing a calf, a tractor, and a combine harvester respectively. The window was installed in 1980.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

Gatton Church, nr Redhill, Surrey, Design for Stained Glass Window (1979)

A church has existed in this Surrey parish since the Doomsday Survey in 1086 but the present Church dates back to the 13th century, undergoing extensive alterations in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Notably, in 1834, the pulpit and altar, bought from Nuremberg, were hopefully attributed to Albrecht Dürer; the carved doors had travelled from Rouen; the presbytery stalls from a disestablished monastery in Ghent, the altar rails from Tongeren; and the stained glass for the windows, and the wainscoting of the nave and carved canopies had come from Aarschot, near Leuven. This tiny church window was one of Gray’s smallest commissions. Her brief was to include the church at the heart of the Gatton agricultural community, and she did, supplementing this with illustrations of corn, oats, barley, poppies, bees, butterflies, ladybirds, a caterpillar and a grasshopper, alongside small roundels set amongst these containing a calf, a tractor, and a combine harvester respectively. The window was installed in 1980.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Nicholas Church, Worth Matravers, Dorset, Design for Memorial Stained Glass Window (1983)

St Nicholas Church in Worth Matravers is one of the oldest churches in Dorset. It was built around the year 1100 AD. Though the majority of the church is Norman, some of the stonework appears to come from an earlier building, suggesting that there was a church here in the late Saxon period.This memorial window commemorates John Strange who died in 1984. It was commissioned in advance by John, a keen admirer of Gray’s work, after his wife, Diana, died tragically in 1977. John asked that his window included the sea view from their home, and the vine of grapes in the top panes nods to the full chalice in Diana’s window which sits directly opposite John’s and was also designed by Gray. John’s window was installed in the church in 1986.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

Warrington Hospital Chapel, Design for Stained Glass Window (1984)

Warrington Hospital was originally built as an isolation hospital in 1893. The Warrington Union Workhouse Infirmary was built on the site shortly after in 1898, and it was occupied by the Whitecross Military Hospital during the First World War. It wasn’t until 1930, that the infirmary officially became the Warrington Borough General Hospital. Gray’s design for this window in the hospital’s chapel wonderfully demonstrates her colourful, modern style and features the Cross suspended between land and sky, and a line from Psalm 139: ‘O Lord, Thou hast searched me out and known me’. This was one of Gray’s simplest but most favourite window designs, it was installed in the chapel in 1984.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St John’s Church, Read, Nr. Burnley, Lancashire, Design for Stained Glass Memorial Window (1980)

St John’s Church in Read, Lancashire is a parish church that was dedicated to St John Evangelist in 1884 by Henry Ross of Accrington. The parish also notably includes Read Hall and Park, the seat of the Nowell family from the 14th century, Roger Nowell being a key magistrate at the time of the Lancashire Witches in 1612 sending them to Lancaster for trial and eventual execution. This window was installed in 1981.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Wilfrid’s Church, Ribchester, Lancashire, Design for Stained Glass Memorial Window (1995)

St Wilfrid’s Church, Ribchester is situated in the picturesque Ribble Valley, in the heart of rural Lancashire, and dates back to the 13th century. It has since undergone several alterations in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries as well as substantial restoration works in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The village of Ribchester grew out of the ruins of the Roman fort of Bremetenaccum and the Parish Church of St Wilfrid's stands where the key buildings of the fort would have been. This window was installed in 1996.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

All Saints Church, Lightwater, Surrey, Design for Stained Glass Memorial Window (1987)

All Saints Church in Lightwater, Surrey was built and dedicated in 1903. Prior to this, services were held in Florence Laundry in Guildford Road as, at that time, Lightwater was a small hamlet. With the development of nurseries and cottages to house the influx of workers that followed soon after, the Conventional District of All Saints’ was formed in 1931. Before this, All Saints Church had been a daughter church of Windlesham. A Priest-in-Charge was appointed shortly after the split in 1931 and a vestry extension was added to the building. This window features a background Cross, symbols and flowers and was installed in 1988.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St James’ Church, Weddington, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Design for Stained Glass Memorial Window (1989)

St James’ Church in Weddington dates back to the early-14th-century. The chancel, nave, and west tower were rebuilt in red brick in 1733, and the building was restored in 1881, when Gothic windows were inserted in place of the 1733 details. This design fantastically demonstrates Gray’s modernist style, with her colourful palette and simple yet detailed, geometrical structure. This window was installed in 1990.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St Anne’s Church, Copp, Great Eccleston, Design for Stained Glass Window (1979)

A chapel was first built at Copp in 1723 for the members of St. Michaels on Wyre Church and Kirkham Church who were too far from their parish churches. Elswick Chapel would have been ideal for the purpose, but as it was in the hands of dissenters the bishop of the time, Bishop Gastrall, decided a new building would be preferable. On May 13th, 1723, a deed was drawn up arranging for three men to rent a piece of land (known as Higher Cop) for one peppercorn a year to build a new chapel. St. Anne's Chapel was built that same year. It wasn’t until 1849, however, that Copp Parish was formed by an Order in Council at Queen Victoria's court at Windsor. The church was completely restored in 1884, the outside transformed by building over it in Yorkshire stone, and the tower raised to 45ft. This window design centres on the scene of Christ healing a lame man and features symbolic images of loaves and fishes. The window was installed in 1979.

Jane Gray (b.1931)

St James, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria, Design for Stained Glass Window (1978)

St James’ Church in Temple Sowerby, Cumbria was built in 1754, and enlarged in 1770, the west tower being added in 1807. In his 1831 work, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis described the church as ‘a handsome structure of red freestone, with a square tower and portico’.