Good Sheperd

Good Shepherd by Alfred Fisher

Alfred Fisher joined James Powell and Sons (known as Whitefriars from 1962) in 1951 after studying at the Liverpool Institute and Liverpool College of Art. In 1967 he succeeded E Liddall Armitage as Chief Designer of the Whitefriars Studio.

When Whitefriars closed its stained glass department in 1973, Alfred Fisher founded Chapel Studio where, continuing to design extensively, he also fulfilled a long-standing ambition of establishing a separate workshop for the conservation and repair of historic glass. After retiring from Chapel Studio he has remained active as a designer, and also a conservation adviser working in collaboration with the National Trust and English Heritage.

Alfred Fisher’s window depicting Christ as the Good Shepherd is situated in the south aisle of the church, and dates from 1965. It is a memorial to Wilfred Barnes Barratt, and was given by his family and friends.

At the time of the commission budget constraints did not allow the tracery panels at the top to be included in the scheme. The window was finally completed to a new design by Alfred Fisher in 2003. Submitting his design on 24 June 2002 Alfred Fisher wrote:

‘When I first designed the window in 1964, there were very limited funds available, hence the large areas of plain glass, and to me it always had a rather unfinished look, which I am now delighted to be able to rectify. I have tried to integrate the new tracery with the figure, and have introduced a warm glow of colour into the top, instead of the bleak empty spaces. There are two leafy shapes of blue to tie up with the figure, and small chips of bright ruby glass to give vibrancy. The design involves the temporary removal of the tops of the three main lights, but to provide the tracery only without these areas would make it impossible to unite the lights and the tracery effectively as they do now …

I look forward to your reaction in due course and hope very sincerely that the work can go-ahead. It is a fascinating prospect to complete a work started 38 years ago but does tend to make me feel a bit of a dinosaur!’

In completing the window, Chapel Studio was able to incorporate Whitefriars glass, acquired when the firm closed its stained glass department and sold its stock.

Information taken from Church website