New artwork dedicated to SAS unveiled at cathedral
A 3,000-piece stained glass window and sculpture dedicated to the SAS has been unveiled at Hereford Cathedral.
The artwork, dubbed Ascension, celebrates the strong bonds between the ‘ Who Dares Wins’ regiment and the city. The SAS has its base in Hereford.
Designed by the Royal Academy sculptor John Maine, the window includes 40 colours and was two years in the making. It was assembled by architectural glass specialists Derix in their studios near Wiesbaden, Germany.
Three specialist took four days to install the window at the 1,300-yearold cathedral. Three of the stones from the monument below it come from Scotland and the “Special Air Service” inscription was carved in Caithness slate by acclaimed letter cutter Nicholas Sloan.
The “ledger” stones at the foot of the monument are black marble, from a mine near Mons, Belgium.
The SAS badge is the work of Perthshire carver Gillian Forbe, who also cut the line “always a little further”, taken from the poem The Golden Road To Samarkand, a verse used by the SAS since the 1960s.
Ascension was displayed to the public for the first time this week and is the culmination of seven months preparation inside the cathedral.
Dean of Hereford, the Very Rev Michael Tavinor, said: “Ascension is as breathtaking and spectacular as John Maine promised it would be.
“It is a marvellous addition to the beautiful artwork in this historic cathedral and I know it will draw visi- tors from all over the world, who will, like us, look on in wonder at this extraordinary symbol of the link between Hereford and the SAS.”
Artist John Maine said: “Ascension has been a creative challenge for me, combining glass and stone on a huge scale. It has opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
“The process has been stimulating from the outset, first responding to the architecture while strengthening the connection between the cathedral and the SAS.”
Colonel Rupert Prichard, president of the SAS Regimental Association, said: “Ascension is a stunning piece of art, here for us all to ponder and appreciate and in a place that is very, very special to the SAS.
“This is the living memorial that we wanted – timeless, uncluttered and totally captivating.
“We will each see and think what we want, when we want, how we want. The analogy to a continental wayside shrine is very apt. It is nicely understated in its excellence but wonderfully powerful in its meaning – and with a good dash of mystery. The regiment in its art form perhaps?”