Date set for window tribute
MEMORIAL TO TRAGIC STUDENT SARA
Culture Editor YESTERDAY, when Sara Pilkington would have celebrated her 27th birthday, more details emerged of a stained glass window commissioned in her memory.
The memorial to the Durham University student is to be called the Illumination Window and it will be installed at Durham Cathedral in the autumn.
Sara, who was a member of the university’s Collingwood College, died suddenly in February 2012 from a cardiac-related condition while in her final year of studying for an honours degree in combined arts.
Sara’s parents, Jonathan and Jools Pilkington, donated the window which will commemorate Sara
and celebrate the special link between the cathedral and the university.
They said: “Our wish has always been to install within the cathedral a lasting memorial to our beautiful daughter in a place she loved so much.
“As human beings, we each take our own journey of learning and we hope that by expressing this acquisition of knowledge and understanding through a beautiful work of art, the Illumination Window will be something in which everyone, from children and students to adults, can find meaning.”
Glass artist Mel Howse, who is based in Chichester, was commissioned to produce the window.
Having worked in consultation with Sara’s parents, cathedral staff and Chris Cotton, the cathedral’s conservation architect, she has now produced a 24sqm, fullsized design for the new window. While it hasn’t yet been made public, it has been shown to Sara’s parents and the cathedral team, who have approved the design. Durham Cathedral said: “It was a thrilling moment where the detailed design was seen at its full scale for the first time, marking the transition to commencing the glass work.” The artist said: “A project like this is a rare opportunity. “Not only is it a privilege to be creating a window that will become part of the fabric of such an iconic and muchloved building, but also it is hugely inspiring to be asked to do so to honour Sara’s memory – a young and vibrant personality.” Sara, a former pupil of Stockport Grammar School, was just 21 when she died. The intention was that the window would “express and interpret qualities she embodied – spirituality, beauty, colour, learning and light”. The Illumination Window will be installed in the cathedral’s north quire aisle and overlook the buildings of the university.