St Pauls Church in Wales WW1 Memorial Stained Glass Window

St Pauls Church in Wales Grangetown, Cardiff; is home to one of the largest and most impressive stained glass window, WW1 memorial’s in the UK.

This 1920 war memorial by the prominent London firm of Burlison & Grylls. The firm were particularly favoured by those churches following the strong Anglo-Catholic tradition in Cardiff that flourished at the time. Although the window is fairly conventional in arrangement it has a number of distinguishing features. For example it is one of a handful of windows featuring saints representing the four dioceses of Wales prior to addition of two more following the Disestablishment of the Welsh church in 1920, but most importantly the four war scenes are unparalleled in other war memorials in Wales. There are only a few depictions of the First World War battlefield in church memorial windows, and this window is unique, in depicting scenes from the air force, navy and two of the army including a scene in the trenches. As such it was featured in a recent book Stained Glass from Welsh Churches by Martin Crampin   (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2014). Such near contemporary representations of the war are a much neglected aspect of the way in which the First World War was remembered.'

St Pauls Church in Wales Grangetown, Cardiff is embarking on an exciting venture in partnership with Wales & West Housing, to renovate its building and secure its future for the Grangetown community.

The WW1 Memorial Stained Glass Window has undergone a complete restoration project. Ark Stained Glass & Leaded Lights Ltd undertook the complete project. Some damaged panes were transported to Ark's studio and were carefully repaired, repainted and cleaned by Ark's professional artist Louise Hemmings. The majority of the restoration work including some masonry repairs took place on site by Arks restorers Bryan Pavely and Tony O'Donnell.

All this could not have been attempted without the enthusiasm and fundraising efforts of St Pauls Church and its PCC. The Church Wardens applied to various organisations and successfully secured funding from: CADW = £10,000; St Andrews Trust = £2,000; War Memorial Trust = £1,352 and £2,600 locally raised with the help of Parishioners.  

St Pauls Church Grangetown and the local community are delighted with the results of the restoration of this very impressive WW1 Memorial. St Pauls PCC are particularly grateful to our funders CADW,  St Andrews Trust and War Memorial Trust and the local Grangetown community for their support and generosity.