Beautiful windows

Tomorrow marks the centenary of the completion of the stained glass window scheme at St Stephen and West Church, Broughty Ferry.

“In those days,” says a member of the congregation, “the church was known as St Stephen’s Church. It was built in the 1870s in the Gothic style by the people of West Ferry.

“Around 30 of the windows were gifted to the church by John J. Watson, who was a whisky and wine merchant in Dundee with a bond, James Watson’s Bond in the Seagate. He died in 1924.”

A report in The Dundee Courier of Thursday June 8 1916 about the windows stated that: “with the filling of the choir windows recently completed, an effect is accomplished which is singularly beautiful and gratifying, both on account of the artistic effect attained and the comprehensive and educational character of the subjects chosen for portrayal.

“These subjects embody very fully the teaching of the Scriptures from the Fall of Man to the Atonement on the Cross.

“The designs of the windows in the church are mostly by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and have been reproduced in stained glass by the Morris Company of Merton Abbey, in Surrey, which was founded by William Morris, the lifelong friend of Burne-Jones.”