Talk by stained glass artist Caroline Swash

To a full church Caroline, who has created stained glass windows for Gloucester, Salisbury and Portsmouth Cathedrals, gave the sold out audience a fascinating insight into the life and work of her father and grandfather, Edward and Henry Payne.

Both men were talented artist-craftsmen who produced art works in many media but became most famous for their creations in stained glass.

They were members of the Birmingham Group of Artists and had close links to the arts and crafts movement.

The windows of St Thomas à Becket Church were a father-son collaboration and among their finest work.

The two artists had very different styles, Henry was more architectural with windows designed to illustrate the glory and splendour of biblical characters and stories. Edward was more empathetic, egalitarian and attended closely to evoking the humanity of his subject matter.

His humour and love of animals were combined to portray some lively and quirky squirrels and rabbits at the foot of one of the windows in the church, otherwise designed by his father, depicting Christ teaching his disciples.

The combination of styles, their harmonies and rivalries, has produced a unique and treasured legacy for St Thomas à Becket Church which following Caroline's talk, the audience appreciated all the more.