This window has been installed in the east end of St Peter's Chailey.

The window was commissioned in memory of Eddie Mathias, designing windows to be installed in religious buildings can be an lengthy, and interesting, process but in the end I am glad to say, everyone seems very pleased with the final product.

St Peter's Church, North Chailey

St Peter's Chuch, Hove

The parish priest Father Jerry approached me with the idea of creating a “Rose Window” at the west end of St. Peters church, Portland Rd. At the time the existing window was glazed with plain rectangles (as seen in the exterior shot below). The window which sits above the organ gallery is nearly three metres in diameter, a large undertaking that would require all the necessary approvals.

In order to get the project moving I made four sketches that I presented to members of the parish. Out of the four designs the most favourable comments were for the scenes of the fishermen casting out their nets. Following that, voting style slips were placed in the pews and everybody got the chance to give their views. It was all very positive but again the same two designs came neck and neck in popularity.

Back to the drawing board and with everybody’s opinions in mind I took elements from the two favoured designs and combined them.

The one hundred fish swirling around the edge representing the centenary of the church. Hopefully all recognisable fish; plaice, cod, sardines and bream amongst them. There are also three fish in the net including the haddock which is said to have the fingerprint of Saint Peter on its side (mine in this case!)

The herring gulls in the sky a familiar sight in Brighton and the Seven Sisters cliffs an iconic feature of our Sussex landscape. I wanted to show the locality of the church and have the men fishing of the south coast rather than the sea of Galilee.

For a project this size with a deadline, it was essential to have a team and extra workshop space. I approached David Warland at Silver Stained Glass (SSG) in Poynings asking if they could assist me. I worked closely with Jason Moul who had recently joined SSG and he cut the glass which I painted, and there was a lot of glass, one thousand four hundred pieces, therefore there was a lot painting.

As you can imagine this was significant project, which started with a road trip to Liverpool to choose and purchase all of the glass. We shopped all day making sure that colours and textures were the perfect ones. Creation started in earnest in January 2019. We worked in unison with other members of the workshop, Trevor and John, constructing the window so that it could be installed and ready for the unveiling on the 1st of June 2019.

The window would not have been possible if it had not been for the generosity of the parish, especially The Union of Catholic Mothers who raised money tirelessly. Parishioners and visitors who have made donations, taken part in activities like mud runs and raised funds with table top sales and parishioners who have left legacies.

Frank Bull Photography