Hidden stained-glass masterpieces go on display in Glasgow

It wasn't just ships and locomotives which earned Glasgow the title of workplace of the world.

In the 18th and early 19th Century, Scotland was also celebrated for its arts and crafts, and stained-glass production was at the centre of it all.

Some of that glass was shipped to locations across the world, like Budapest where James Guthrie's Thistle window can still be seen in the museum of decorative arts.

Others were created for the ocean liners themselves, surviving only in images of those grand voyages.

And hundreds of works remained here in Scotland - in churches, private homes, civic buildings and community spaces.

Among them, two grand examples which for the best part of a century were only enjoyed by parishioners in a Glasgow church.

The Templeton Window depicts the life of Christ in eight scenes, The McCowan window shows the events of Holy Week in three large panels.

Both were created by Alf Webster in the early 20th Century and are so much more than religious decoration, revealing hidden details about the world at the time, the craftspeople who made them and the patrons who paid for them.

Researcher Dr Karen Mailley said: "Alf Webster uses a range of religious iconography, but also natural symbols so anybody coming into the church would be able to "read" the window from top to bottom.

"That's something we've lost nowadays, and we'd love to help people to understand what's actually going on in the windows."

That's one of the ambitions of the Alf Webster Museum of Stained Glass, which will open in the Lansdowne Church early next year.

The heritage charity Fact Three has been working on the project since 2013 when the last of the congregation left.

Trustee David Robertson said: "Our role was to make sure the building survived and had an income stream."

Although the Webster Windows – which are made up of many different panels – will be at the centre of Scotland's first museum dedicated to stained-glass history, new technology means there's space to rotate works, from many different collections.

Robertson added: "We can take individual panels out, look at them, repair them and put them back without disrupting the whole window,

"And we hope we can rotate windows from collections like Glasgow Museums so the public can come and see something different each time they visit."

Born in the south side of Glasgow in 1883, he studied at Glasgow School of Art before becoming an apprentice at the prestigious Adam Studio. In 1910, after the death of the founder Stephen Adam Senior, he took over the studio himself.

"He was then able to express himself and become a prominent designer," said Robertson.

"For the next few years, he was responsible for as many as 40 windows across Scotland, including the ones here in the Lansdowne Church."

The McCowan window was installed in 1914 and marks the end of Webster's short but prolific career.

A year later, while serving with the Gordon Highlanders in Ypres, he was seriously injured and died shortly afterwards.

Robertson continued: "This incredible talent was snuffed out at the age of 31.

"And because a church doesn't tend to be open to the public to the same extent, few people have been able to see them, so we're now finally revealing the talent of Alf Webster."

While the Templeton window remains in situ, the McCowan window was demounted in 2007 and placed in storage until the museum plans got under way.

Funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Glasgow City Heritage Trust and the Architectural Heritage Fund as well as a crowd funder appeal has allowed restoration work to be done.

Although Scotland has a wealth of stained glass, there are few opportunities to display it.

The new museum hopes to build a viewing platform which will allow the public a rare close-up view.

Mailley added: "We're at a crucial point in our history. There are 800 churches being sold off. That's a lot of stained glass.

"So having a centre like the museum to promote techniques but also elevate it as an artwork is incredibly important."

A century ago, the area around Lansdowne Church was home to many different glass studios.

Today, it's down to the small conservation team - Rab MacInnes, Eilidh MacKenzie and Gordon Muir - to train up new apprentices and volunteers to cope with what's already out there and create new works of their own.

One of them – by Rab Macinnes – bridges the gap between the two very different parts of the former church.

His windows for the Kelvin Bar, where patrons of the Stand Comedy Club gather before gigs, giving a sense of what's to come in the new museum upstairs.

Robertson continued: "We're hoping that this is just phase one.

"We quite like the contrast of being used for comedy but also this more culturally traditional offering upstairs. I like the fact that the two things are in the one building. I hope the public will feel the same."