30/09/2025
Stained glass in Sydney Australia
Sydney has a distinguished share of Australia's rich heritage in stained glass, a heritage which resulted from a fortunate combination of historical factors. Having reached a peak in thirteenth-century Europe as part of Gothic architecture, stained glass declined by the seventeenth century and was virtually a lost art by the eighteenth century. Then, in the mid-nineteenth century, a revival occurred as a result of the resurgence of interest in, and renewed practice of, Gothic architecture. In England it was connected to the Anglo-Catholic religious revival, and by the 1860s England led the way in the design and manufacture of stained glass.
This revival coincided with a period of strong economic growth in the Australian colonies, the result of the gold rushes and continuing pastoral expansion. Prosperity brought migrating architects and stained glass artists to Australian shores. There was a building boom, particularly in churches, and stained glass became part of the boom.
From as early as the 1840s, stained glass was imported into Australia, mainly from Britain, and by the later nineteenth century thousands of windows were being imported. In addition, a healthy rapport developed between architects and stained glass artists, and by the 1860s stained glass firms had opened in Melbourne and Sydney. Stained glass became an integral part of both ecclesiastical and secular architecture, and an industry thrived from 1860 to 1914.
Two major British firms, John Hardman & Co of Birmingham and Clayton & Bell of London, supplied stained glass to Australia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of their best work may be seen in Sydney.
Sydney's imported stained glass
The windows made by Clayton & Bell for the University of Sydney's Great Hall remain a landmark in Australian stained glass. [3] The building was designed by Edmund Blacket, who had migrated to Australia in 1843 fresh from the influence of Augustus Welby Pugin and the Gothic revival. He exemplifies the rapport between architects and stained glass artists which was to prove so fruitful, and he was a major influence on the incorporation of stained glass into the University buildings. The Great Hall windows, made between 1856 and 1858, were the first ambitious program of stained glass to come out of the nineteenth-century revival, and consequently received much publicity in London at the time; royal approval was required before the windows were dispatched to the colony of New South Wales. [4] Thirty-five men of learning and invention, exclusively British, are portrayed life-size on either side of the hall. They are ranked chronologically and in groups, beginning with the Anglo-Saxon historian, the Venerable Bede, and ending with the late eighteenth-century explorer and cartographer, Captain James Cook. At either end of the hall two 14-light windows represent the Universities of Cambridge (on the east) and Oxford (on the west), and a 19-light bay window, set off the dais, portrays the monarchs of Britain. In place by 1859 when the Great Hall was opened, the windows transform this architectural environment and charge it with meaning, expressing the foundations and ideals of the University.
While Clayton & Bell were pre-eminent for secular stained glass, exemplified at the University of Sydney, John Hardman & Co were the leading exporters of glass for Sydney's cathedrals. Edmund Blacket designed St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, and from 1861–68 Hardman sent out windows forming a narrative scheme on the life of Christ. The high level of their skill is everywhere apparent; panels in the choir depicting Mary Magdalene won a prize at the 1864 South Kensington Exhibition. In addition, the firm's architectonic skill in handling themes on a grand scale is evident in the east and west windows of St Andrew's. [5] For a grand iconographic scheme, however, Hardman's achievement at St Mary's Catholic Cathedral is remarkable. From 1881 to 1937, the firm made all the windows for St Mary's to form a vast unified program rich in meaning: typology is incorporated throughout, and even includes historical scenes in the nave windows which tell the story of the early days of the Catholic Church in Australia.
While Hardman was the leading British maker to supply glass to Sydney churches, a singular example of imported stained glass arrived in 1860 from Charles Clutterbuck of Essex – the east window of another Blacket church, Holy Trinity, Millers Point (the Garrison church). At such an early date, this dramatic window, exemplifying Clutterbuck's pictorial 'Renaissance' style, must surely have been 'one of the most famous sights in any Sydney church'. [7] Another unique work, dating from 1856, is the east window at St Paul's Anglican church, Cobbitty, the memorial to Caroline Perry, a young girl who died at the age of 11. It was designed by her uncle, the London artist William Warrington (1796–1869), on the subject of the raising of Jairus's daughter. It is the only window by Warrington in Australia.
The eminent English firm of Morris & Co exported principally to Adelaide, but in Sydney their work may be seen at All Saints' Anglican church at Hunters Hill, which holds two three-light Morris windows made to designs by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898), including an inspired portrayal of Christ at the Transfiguration.
Stained glass for residences was rarely imported, but an outstanding example survives at Fairwater in Double Bay, a house built in 1881–82 for a Sydney stockbroker and his bride. [9] J Horbury Hunt was the architect and, like Blacket, Hunt was particularly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about stained glass. He sent to England for the glass which, on the basis of style, can be attributed to Nathaniel Westlake (1833–1921) of Lavers, Barraud & Westlake. Right from the front door of Fairwater, stained glass is visually and thematically compelling. The heraldic arms and mottos of husband and wife are worked in the fanlight, and in the sidelights female figures represent Hospitality and Peace. In the library, a four-light window depicts the sciences and the arts. The story of Evangeline, a favourite subject with Horbury Hunt, holds pride of place on the staircase window and represents faithful love. The range of windows at Fairwater bears witness to ideals and benefits of civilised life and, more specifically, to the Victorian taste and social values of the architect and his clients.
Sydney's locally made stained glass
The first professional stained glass artist in Sydney was John Falconer from Glasgow, who opened a studio in Pitt Street in 1863. By 1875 he was joined by Frederick Ashwin from Birmingham. Some of Falconer & Ashwin's earliest work may be seen in the dome of the vestibule of the Sydney Town Hall. The vestibule served as Sydney's original town hall, and the dome was installed in 1877, depicting an array of allegorical figures representing the strengths needed by the colony (Industry, Truth, Plenty, Temperance, Justice, Peace, Liberty, and Prudence). In 2011 the dome needed repair and the City of Sydney Council drew on the advice of one of Australia's experienced restorers, Kevin Little (born 1930). [10] Also in the 1870s, Falconer & Ashwin designed windows for St James's Catholic church, Forest Lodge, which were in place when the church opened in 1878. [11]
