We spent a afternoon at Ely cathedral and in their Stained Glass museum. I love Stained Glass so I was in heaven to see the oldest to newest pieces of stained glass. I have taken Stain glass classes in the past and have made a few windows of my own. Since having my children I haven't had many opportunities to do my hobby.
This one is as old at the 1200's. It was part of a much larger window but this is all that is left of it. Do you know the purpose of the stain glass windows in the church? They were used to tell the illiterate the story of the bible or important historical facts of the era. Since many could not read the windows were used to capture the story.
Some of the many wonderful windows we saw in the museum.
During England's reformation and Civil War many churches were destroyed along with many wonderful stain glass windows. In fact the art of Stain glass completely died out in England during the late 1600 and was reintroduced during the Victorian era.
After hearing a brief lecture on how stain glass was done during the Victorian age the children....
...were ask to create their own stained glass window.
Next they were asked to construct a simple window. I should say we were not allowed to keep these, as they are used for other school groups. This activity gave the children a sense of how to build a window using lead channels.
Lastly we did a scavenger hunt and tried to find many hidden symbols in the stained glass windows at the museum.
We had a lovely visit and I want to go back. I also discovered they do classes there so I just might sign up and re awaken my creative side:)!
