The Chapel at St Antony’s Priory was built in 1990. It was always intended that it should have a stained glass ‘east’ window and a design by Norman Adams was commissioned but never made. Although the window faces north, it functions liturgically as an east window. 

In 2024, the trustees selected Sophie Hacker to take the project forward. The brief was clear:

the design should be abstract, and appropriate to the simplicity of the Chapel;

the design should flow across the whole window rather than having individual pictures in each of the eight panels; the colours should be cool and translucent, and retain some clear glass; the fabrication should use modern methods, rather than be a traditionally leaded window; the idea would ideally incorporate the idea of Angels, in keeping with the patronage of SSM.

At Sophie’s first site visit, it became apparent that all the windows were in a poor state of repair. The trustees took her advice to replace all 17 panels with double glazing. She was invited to submit a design for all of them rather than just the east window.

Sophie’s response to the chapel was to interpret it as a font, with its steeply raked eight sides. This provided the inspiration of the elements, using Water for the principal ‘east’ window and Earth, Fire and Air for the remaining three.

The east window has stone mullions and transoms that form the three crosses of Calvary and Sophie incorporated that happy accident into her interpretation, adding a Glory around the central cross, defined with a sandblasted circle. The use of the circle enriched the theological reading of all the windows

For Earth, the circle breaks into a line of abstracted trees, and symbolises the incarnation. 

For Fire, the circle emerges from the heart of the flame, evoking the rising sun and resurrection.

For Air, a golden yellow evokes the beating of angels’ wings.  In this window, the circle frames the host elevated at the eucharist. It also answers the part of the brief to incorporate the idea of Angels.

Sophie experimented with various types of enamel, and chose a transparent type which, when combined in double glazed units with a specialist clear glass called ‘Artista’ provided all the clarity and translucency the trustees were seeking, whilst also significantly enriching the transmission of light into the chapel. Artista has a fractured structure which is somewhat like the surface of the very finest mouth-blown flash glass.

The finished result has been met with universal delight by those who use the chapel regularly, by the trustees and by visitors. One trustee said to Sophie, at the dedication service, that the windows seemed to have always been meant to be there.

The impact of sunlight streaming through each window changes the atmosphere of the chapel throughout the day and throughout the seasons. The windows have added greatly to the liturgical and spiritual impact of the chapel. Being double glazed, they also improve the ecological impact of the Priory.

St Antony's Priory, Durham — Proto Glass Studios

Photography by Sophie Hacker