Coventry stained glass and the Icelandic connection

The two links below will take you to some encouraging news for our city.... Hidden from public view for 70 years, the salvaged medieval glass of St. Michael's, Coventry is being bought back to life via an innovative joint project between World Monuments Fund Britain and Coventry Cathedral. World Monuments Fund Britain (WMFB) CEO, Dr Jonathan Foyle, presents an overview of their joint project with Coventry Cathedral to safeguard and secure the future of the iconic ruins of St. Michael's, Coventry. It's good to know that there are still people around to look after our heritage.

That does look interesting. Some of the glass from Coventry ended up in a church in Iceland.

Any more details? We shall be in Iceland at the end of the month.

There are a few details that I've put together on this page

Excellent, thank you! We are in Akureyri on 27th July so hopefully we will get a chance to have a look while we are strolling round. It's not a huge place, apparently, but it is at the end of a fjord in the north of Iceland. We are in Reykjavik the following day but are doing a local tour so may not be able to get to Askirkja. I'll try to get some photos of whatever we get to see.

I think we would all agree with Jonathan Foyle. However I think all members on this forum are doing their utmost with regards to the history of Coventry. It is good to know though that there are people like him with strong feelings and I do believe he needs all the support he can get.

There are also some pieces of this stained glass on display in the Cathedral's current art exhibition. We were told by the guide on our visit, that the old stained glass from the cathedral was removed in a great hurry at the beginning of the war and wasn't labelled or catalogued. Part of the project apparently is to use computer software to try to match up the uncoordinated fragments. Cheers, Hugh

Thanks for all the information Rob, old and new, I have seen the beautiful 'glass' before but it is always a delight to look at again.

There was further discussion about the glass in Akureyri here

Further to the references to the Coventry stained glass in Iceland, we are off there again tomorrow and hopefully this time I shall be able to see and photograph the glass there. Last time in Akureyri the church was closed for a funeral, but I am hoping we shall be able to see it from inside this time. We shall also be spending some time in Reykjavik so should be able to get photos of the glass there too. I will try and post them if possible.