Holy Trinity Cathedral, Gibraltar restores stained glass windows
Holy Trinity Cathedral in Gibraltar is preparing stained glass panels using fragments from windows broken by the Bedenham explosion in 1951. They will be dedicated close to the 75th anniversary of the explosion at the end of April.
When a naval armament carrier Bedenham exploded on 27th April 1951, all the stained glass windows in Holy Trinity Cathedral were shattered.
Quotes from eye witnesses have been gathered from the congregation:
"I was only 5. I don’t remember much, only hearing a big bang. Our windows at home blew out into the street. I was so scared!" Evelyn
"I was only four at the time but funnily enough I can remember standing in my cot surrounded by broken glass and my mother nervously telling me not to move. My brother, John, was at St George’s school. They heard the explosion and the teacher told them all to go under the desks. With the impact a large glass door fell onto the desks. Had it not been for the teacher’s quick reaction the glass would have fallen onto all the children." Eileen
"I was in Holy Trinity Cathedral, talking with Dean Henry Lloyd. In one moment all the windows blew in, all that beautiful glass! It seemed like mountains of broken glass. We weren’t hurt, but we couldn’t walk around without glass scrunching underfoot. We got brooms and did what we could to sweep up." Myrtle
The east window above the altar was replaced with new stained glass, thanks to a donation from the family of John Mackintosh, but the other windows were replaced with plain glass.
Some fragments of the old windows were kept, and they are now being assembled, some with new glass, to make four decorative panels to hang in front of the plain windows. The work is being executed by one of our volunteer Port Chaplains, Rev’d Hugh Ellis, together with a friend from England, Prof Martin Parsons. Costs are being paid for by church members, in memory of deceased loved ones.
You can read more about the explosion here: Explosion of the RFA Bedenham - Wikipedia
We look forward to seeing the final results!
