Historic Churches 2023

26 BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON H ISTOR I C CHURCHE S 30th ANNUAL ED ITION VERONICA WHALL’S WINDOWS AT TINTAGEL Jeremy Chadburn I N 1930 Veronica Whall was commissioned to undertake a large project at King Arthur’s Great Halls at Tintagel. This was for 73 stained glass windows, by far her largest commission. An article in The National Geographic described them as simply the finest 20th-century stained glass windows they have ever seen in the world, and their significance is the principal reason why the building was recently upgraded from Grade II to II*. King Arthur’s Great Halls were the creation of Frederick Thomas Glasscock, a very successful businessman who retired to Tintagel. Glasscock was deeply interested in the Arthurian legends, and in 1927 he initiated the ‘Fellowship of The Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur’. By the early 1930s membership had reached 17,000 worldwide. The Halls as they stand today were completed and opened in 1933. Walking off the street into King Arthur’s great halls does not prepare you for the wonder and scale of these stained glass windows. The visitor passes through the entrance foyer into the Hall of Chivalry. This is a dark heavy space which was used to describe the Arthurian legend through paintings and son et lumière. From there you are taken through the outer corridor into the main hall. This is a transformation from black and white to glorious technicolour emanating from the large north and south stained glass panels. In 2020 Holywell Glass Ltd were commissioned to undertake a condition survey of the stained glass and they describe the windows as follows: The decorative scheme within the hall is of the very highest quality in terms of craft. An important – arguably the most important – element of which is the superb scheme of stained glass designed and made by Veronica Whall, the daughter of the doyen of Arts and Crafts stained glass, artist Christopher Whall. This is Veronica Whall’s masterpiece, and is certainly of national significance. … The main hall windows to north and south elevations are superb in conception The south windows in King Arthur’s Great Hall with Veronica Whall’s depictions of The Sword in the Stone, The Lady of the Lake and Merlin (Photos: Jeremy Chadburn) One of the side windows showing ‘The Sword’ representing faith, purity and humility and technique. To the south, The Sword in the Stone, The Lady of the Lake and Merlin; to the west, the departure of King Arthur. To the north, the life of St George. The glass is streaky English Antique and slab colour of the very highest quality. The design, draughtsmanship, glass painting and application of silver stain is bravura and masterful. The colour palette and glass selection is masterful, creating appropriately magical effects of light and texture.