Fig. 1. Head of St Peter from one of the panels restored to St Cystennin’s church.
Five panels of stained glass, dating to the 15th century, have been restored and returned for display at St Cystennin’s church in Llangystennin near Mochdre, Conwy.
The fragmentary panels were discovered wrapped in blankets beneath the pulpit of the church, and were initially sent for safe-keeping to Llandudno Museum. After fund-raising by church volunteers and the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the panels were restored by Recclesia and returned to the church in a glass and oak display cabinet.
The panels depict St George slaying the dragon; St Nicholas; St Catherine; St Peter and the Resurrection of Christ. They long pre-date the current church, built in the mid-nineteenth century.
Jamie Moore, Managing Director of Recclesia, said, ‘These are excellent examples of medieval stained glass, yet in some ways they are different from other local windows, and are therefore of huge significance. The style of the artwork depicting the horse of St George is similar to stained glass in Norfolk and the haloes around the heads of the saints are different from other local depictions.
It is thought also that there could be a sixth panel showing the Archangel Michael with the Virgin Mary, weighing souls but so far no fragments have been found’.