Winchester Cathedral exhibition marks stained glass anniversary

• Watch the report by ITV Meridian's Christine Alsford

A new exhibition at Winchester Cathedral is celebrating the work of those who excel at stained glass window design.

It also marks the 100th anniversary of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.

A huge variety of styles and techniques are on display, from the use of traditional leading, to designs that use modern screen printing and etching.

The Very Rev Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester Cathedral said: "It's really marvellous to have examples of beautiful contemporary stained glass in the cathedral because of course we've got so many examples of medieval and older glass. 

"It's wonderful to think that for so many hundreds and thousands of years people have tried to modify the colour of light that comes into important buildings - it goes back to the ancient Egyptians."

• The Very Rev Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester Cathedral:

The origins of stained glass may be ancient but the designs show how it's an art form that is still very much alive today, with recent events taking the centre stage of some of the glass.

Rachel Mullgan, Curator said: "All the work has been done in 2020 and 2021 so all during lockdowns and Covid, so a lot of the panels pick up on those themes of isolation and the environment. Lots of the works are about nature because at the time that is what we perhaps reconnected with."

The cathedral's own West Window was famously smashed during the Civil War and was recreated from the saved fragments decades later. It forms the inspiration of a design by local artist Sophie Hacker.

• Sophie Hacker, Artist:

Sophie Hacker, Artist said: "I decided to make a lockdown fragment window. The whole experience of life in lockdown was that it became fragmented. Things were disassociated and broken and in a way the point of making this window was to say we can remake it all and we can remake it with beauty and hope."

The 60 panels will remain on display until November 25th and admission is free on entry to the Cathedral.