SULIEN

Stained Glass at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Porthmadog

A variety of stained glass windows were commissioned for the church at Porthmadog from the 1880s and into the early twentieth century, with one last window added by the Welsh firm Celtic Studios in 1974.

Many of the windows are by Lavers & Westlake and date from the 1890s. The firm made all of the windows in the chancel except the east window, which is the work of Burlison & Grylls. These windows were unseen for many years after a reordering of the church created a meeting room in what was formerly the chancel, which was roofed internally.

Two of the windows commemorate engineers involved with the building and management of the Ffestiniog Railway, which still runs from the harbour at Porthmadog into the hills and to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Other windows were made by the London firms of Edward Frampton, Percy Bacon and James Powell & Sons. A window on the south side of the church looks like the work of the designer Charles Hean, who also made windows not too far away at Cricieth and Boduan, churches that have long since closed.

The church at Porthmadog was closed in 2023. The booklet was commissioned in order to remember the church for the members of the congregation that now worship at 'New St John's' in the town centre.

Copies are available for sale at the the Ffestiniog Railway in Porthmadog. Alternatively please contact books@sulien.wales to buy a copy.