Winchester Cathedral

The cathedral's huge west window is made up of fragments of medieval glass put together randomly, in a manner something like pique assiette mosaic work. The original panes were deliberately destroyed by Cromwell's forces following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. Soon after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the broken glass was gathered up and used again. As this display in the cathedral visitor centre shows, the original pictures were not reconstructed, as was attempted at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich. Perhaps the damage at Winchester was just too great for a "jigsaw" approach. Out of necessity, the cathedral pre-empted collage art by hundreds of years. medieval tiles at Winchester Cathedral opus sectile angel mosaic back to list (mosaics in the south of England)