Visualising Faith: Stained Glass Windows, Belief and the Parish in the South-West of England (c.1400-1700)

Abstract

Stained glass schemes and fragments represent a large, rich and diverse corpus of evidence testifying to the socio-religious culture of the late medieval and early modern parish church. Despite this, the academic record has tended to focus either on the glazing programmes of monumental sites, such as cathedrals and large churches, or on other features of the parish church interior, such as rood screens. This thesis examines both surviving examples of stained glass and written descriptions of lost windows situated in the parish church in order to understand the significance and value of glass, with particular attention to its spatial, religious and social functions. It provides the first extensive study of glass found in the South-West region of England, covering the modern counties of Bristol, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Encompassing the period roughly from 1400 to 1700, the study also traverses traditional historiographic boundaries in order to explore the persistence and place of stained glass across an era traditionally characterised by profound change. Drawing upon a wide range of material and documentary evidence that reaches well into the nineteenth century, this thesis offers fresh methodological and interpretative insight into the wider study of material culture in the pre-modern church.

Through a detailed discussion of case studies drawn from a substantial dataset, this thesis uncovers the dynamic interactions between stained glass, religious worship and parish communities before, through and beyond the English Reformations. The first chapter begins with an assessment of the various physical settings of stained glass within and without the church building, revealing how a profound sense of place and space informed glazing. The second chapter showcases the ways in which stained glass manifested central aspects of devotional experience in the church enacted in both their collective and private forms. By identifying different social and ecclesiastical groups of patrons, the third chapter traces the framework of distinct donor relationships to the parish church and considers the impact this had on the patronage of stained glass. The fourth and final chapter interrogates the continuity of stained glass across the Reformations giving unique insight into the prolonged, sporadic process of reform, as well as the evolving connection felt by parish communities towards their church building. Overall, this thesis unveils the complex layers of function and meaning held by stained glass in parish communities where it both enhanced religious experience and expressed distinct forms of identity.