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By Charlotte Harding, Senior Houseparent and Head of Careers
Internationally acclaimed stained-glass artist Thomas Denny, known for creating some of the most atmospheric and spiritually resonant stained-glass windows in modern Britain, visited Bedales to spend time with the Block 5 ODW students specialising in stained-glass for their final BAC project.
With more than fifty major windows installed in cathedrals and churches across the UK, including Gloucester, Hereford and Durham Cathedrals, Denny’s work is celebrated for its shimmering colour, painterly textures and emotional depth. His windows have been described as “quite astonishing” (Pevsner), “rich in meaning” and “a radiance that defies beating rain and fading light.”
During the workshop at Bedales, students explored samples of mouth‑blown glass, learning about their origins, qualities and how Thomas incorporates them into his work. He also explained key conventions of the craft: while our students often use leading to define shapes and motifs, Thomas uses it to create rhythmic lines that guide the eye through an image.
Later, speaking to students from Block 2 to 6.2, he showed examples of colour matching to medieval glass and shared insights into techniques that have remained largely unchanged since the 14th century.
These include building layers of colour and texture, temporarily setting designs in beeswax to test the light, etching flashed glass to create tonal variety, and applying metallic oxides and fired black paint for depth. The double layers of glass are finally mounted using a in a H shaped lead ‘calme’.
Denny also shared how landscape, poetry and spirituality shape his designs and told the stories behind some of his most remarkable commissions, like the Ivor Gurney and Gerald Finzi windows in Gloucester.
The audience was captivated by both the beauty of Thomas’s work and his stories ; particularly his involvement in the reinterment of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral and the unexpected media attention created by Leicester City’s concurrent football success.
Thomas’s visit also held personal significance: he shared photographs of his children growing up in Daneway House, the Gimson brothers’ first workshop, whose Arts and Crafts heritage helped shape his own artistic journey. After his talk, he enjoyed an architectural tour of the Bedales grounds led by Alastair Langlands.
We are deeply grateful for the time, expertise and generosity Thomas brought to his visit, which offered students a rare and inspiring insight into a remarkable craft and career.
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