Stories in Stained Glass
17 September 2025 at 10:00:00
Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip
Ship in Stained Glass by Leonard Walker, 1920
Stained glass tells stories. It has been used to play politics, bribe bishops, recruit soldiers and tell jokes. The most remarkable subjects appear in its panes, from miracles to Mandela, tanks to Tiffany, Burne-Jones's water-closet to Churchill's cigar.
It is a powerful way to create atmosphere and send a message - not just in churches, but in airports, sports centres, town halls, banks, libraries and shops - and Susie Harries' talk for us today will include a look at its stories in our area: our saints and our sinners.
Susie is a writer, editor and lecturer specialising in 20th century culture and the arts. She has published eight books on subjects including official war art, opera, the composer Elisabeth Lutyens and a biography of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner.
She lectures to a range of audiences, from the Imperial War Museum and British Museum to the Twentieth Century Society, the RSA, the Cheltenham and Bridport Literary Festivals, the Victorian Society and The Arts Society. Susie read Classics at Cambridge and did research into pre-Socratic philosophy at Oxford, before working for a music agency, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the Royal Society of Arts, where she was Head of Ethics.
Susie Harries