Why Windows Sit Where They Do

Before you look at the glass itself, look at where it has been placed. In a British parish church the position of a window is rarely accidental, and the architecture tells you what to expect before you even focus your eyes.

The great east window, behind the altar, is the focal point of the whole building. It catches the morning sun and is usually reserved for the most important subject: Christ in Majesty, the Crucifixion, or a Last Judgement. Chancel side windows, closer to the priest, tend to carry single saints or the symbols of the Evangelists. The nave windows, where the congregation sits, often show narrative scenes or rows of prophets and apostles. A Lady chapel in a south aisle will almost always contain imagery of the Virgin Mary. And a west window, above the main door, was traditionally the place for a grand scheme of creation or a figure of Christ in glory, greeting you as you leave.

So the first question to ask is simply: where am I standing, and what would this church want me to see from here?

What Colour Could and Could Not Do

Medieval glassmakers worked with a surprisingly limited palette. Colour came from metal oxides melted into the glass itself: cobalt for blue, copper for green, manganese and iron for purples and browns. Ruby red was expensive and used sparingly. The deep, saturated blue so characteristic of thirteenth-century windows was achieved by adding a thin layer of coloured glass over a paler base.

From the fourteenth century onwards, a technique called silver stain allowed glaziers to paint a yellow-gold onto clear glass and fire it in the kiln. This gave them flesh tones, haloes and crowns without cutting extra pieces. If you see a figure with a golden halo and a yellow robe on white glass, you are probably looking at work from the 1300s or later.

Remember too that the lead lines are not just joins. They are the drawing. In older windows the lead is thick and the painted detail is minimal; the image is built from small, jewel-like pieces. Later windows use larger panes and more painted shading, which is why Victorian glass often looks smoother and more pictorial.

Identifying Saints by Their Attributes

Saints in stained glass are almost never labelled, because the medieval viewer did not need a label. They carried objects, known as attributes, which acted as a kind of visual shorthand. Learn a dozen of these and you can read most windows in the country.

• St Peter holds a bunch of keys, sometimes with a cockerel nearby.
• St Paul carries a sword, the instrument of his martyrdom.
• St Catherine has a spiked wheel, often broken.
• St Margaret emerges from the belly of a dragon, or stands over one.
• St George is the knight in armour spearing a dragon.
• St Michael weighs souls in a balance, sometimes with a winged figure beneath him.
• St Nicholas holds three golden balls or bags, recalling his gifts to a poor family.
• St John the Baptist wears a rough camel-hair garment and points to a lamb.

Kings wear crowns, bishops wear mitres and carry croziers, martyrs often hold a palm branch. A figure holding a book and wearing a crown is usually an apostle or an Evangelist rather than a monarch.

Reading a Biblical Scene

When a window shows a story rather than a single figure, read it like a sentence. Start with the central action, then work outwards. Who is touching whom? Who is kneeling? Where does the main figure look?

Look for the small props that carry the plot. A manger, a star and shepherds mean the Nativity. Water jars and a figure with a towel indicate the washing of the disciples' feet. A skull at the foot of a cross is Golgotha, the place of the skull. Bread and a chalice point to the Last Supper or to the Mass.

Scrolls or banderoles, the ribbon-like banners held by figures, often carry a Latin text. Even if you cannot read the Latin, the presence of a scroll usually means the figure is speaking, and the words will be a quotation from scripture or the liturgy. Compare the scene with its neighbours: windows were frequently designed as a sequence, and the story may continue across the aisle.

Donor Panels and Inscriptions

Look at the very bottom of a window, and you will often find the people who paid for it. In medieval glass these are kneeling figures, sometimes tiny, arranged in prayer at the base of the lights. A knight in armour may kneel opposite his wife, with heraldry above them and a row of small children behind. These are donor panels, and they are a record of local families and their patronage.

Later windows usually carry an inscription instead. Read it carefully: it will often give a name, a date, and a phrase such as "in memory of" or "to the glory of God". This is your best evidence for dating the glass. Victorian and early twentieth-century memorial windows are extremely common in British churches, and their inscriptions explain why an otherwise medieval building has such rich nineteenth-century colour.

Keep an eye out for a maker's name or monogram tucked into a corner of the lowest pane. It can be small and easy to miss.

Practical Tips for a Church Visit

• Go on a bright, overcast day. Harsh direct sunlight can wash out the glass; flat light shows colour and detail best.
• Take binoculars. Detail at the top of a tall east window is impossible to read from the floor.
• Note the time of day. East windows are best in the morning, west windows in the afternoon.
• Stand where the window was designed to be seen from, usually the centre of the nave or chancel, not directly beneath it.
• Look for repairs and reset fragments. Odd pieces in borders or corners are often survivors of older glass, reused when a window was rebuilt.
• Check the church guidebook or a notice near the door. Many parishes record the date, subject and maker of their windows.

Stained glass was never meant to be a puzzle. It was a sermon in colour, aimed at a congregation that could not read, and it still rewards slow, patient looking. Take your time, start with the obvious, and let the window tell you its story.