POWF Newsletter – Accessing Websters
In this edition of the POWF Newsletter, Dr. Karen Mailley shares about the Accessing Websters project, which is funded by the NLHF and GCHT, and will include an oral history project, outreach events, and a new accessible database of known Alf Webster windows. Dr. Karen Mailley has an MA Joint (Hons) and an MLitt in Decorative Arts & Design History from the University of Glasgow. She helped to establish Scotland’s first online stained glass database.
The former Lansdowne Church in Glasgow’s West end has received substantial funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Glasgow City Heritage Trust to undertake an innovative project called ‘Accessing Websters’. The project will be run by the charity FACT THREE and will include an oral history project, outreach events and a new accessible database of known Alf Webster windows.
The building, designed by the Glasgow architect John Honeyman (1831-1914), houses two stained glass windows designed by renowned stained glass artist Alf Webster (1883-1915). The A Listed building, formerly known as Lansdowne Church, now houses the Stand Comedy Club on the ground floor with the stained glass gallery currently under developmentat upper gallery level.
As part of the project a new stained glass museum will be created, which will be dedicated to the research and presentation of the city’s stained glass. We are fortunate in having one of the few UK ICON Accredited Conservator-Restorers, Rab MacInnes, who is a British Society of Master Glass Painters Member living and working near to the project. He will be working with a team to conserve and reinstate one of Webster’s windows which is currently in storage. With the focus on one of Scotland’s endangered traditional skills, we are also lucky to have one of Historic Environment Scotland’s Stained Glass Craft Fellow, Gordon Muir, working on the team.
The Accessing Websters Project has the promotion of traditional skills at its core. For over three decades Four Acres Charitable Trust and its sister charity FACT THREE have been supporting the use of traditional skills over several buildings including Lansdowne Church and Cottiers. Work at Cottiers and Websters has provided many opportunities for traditional skills to be passed down to the next generation and new team members. Such skills include slab laying, stone pointing, cutting and indenting stone, mosaic, internal joinery, sheeting, brickwork and blockwork and other aspects of the building trades.
About Webster and the windows
Although Webster’s stained glass career was relatively short in comparison to his contemporaries, through new research, as part of the project, we are discovering that his output was prolific.
Born in Glasgow’s south side in 1883, Webster studied Architecture and Modelling at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) before studying under Stephen Adam Senior (1848-1910) in Adam’s Glasgow studio. During this period, GSA was an exciting place to study with influential individuals such as its architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, artistic tutor the symbolist Jean Delville, Ann Macbeth, Jessie Newbery and Director Fra Newbery studying or teaching there. In 1904, Webster began an apprenticeship at Adam Senior’s studio at 168 Bath Street in the city centre which was known as the ‘Adam Studio’. After Adam’s death in 1910, Webster took over the studio until his death during WWI in 1915.
The McCowan window depicts the events of Holy Week, and consists of three large, detailed lancets and a trefoil situated above. The McCowan window, installed in 1913-14, was the gift of Mr and Mrs David McCowan of 9 Park Circus Place. David McCowan was a senior partner of the marine insurance brokers and underwriting firm, Messrs William Euing & Company. Although the window is currently in storage awaiting the team to start work, progress has been made with the installation of the light tables in the space designated for the museum.
The second window, commonly referred to as The Templeton building, is still in situ in its original location. Named after the Misses Templeton, who gifted the window, it depicts the life of Christ in eight large scenes with a panel dedicated to the memory of their mother, brother, and sister and in appreciation of their present minister. Misses Templeton was the spinster daughter of James Templeton, a long-serving Manager and Elder of Lansdowne UP Church. Like the McCowan window, the main scenes of the window are surrounded by detailed motifs and symbols.
The Accessing Websters Project will run for two years with the aim of sharing the story and art of Alf Webster through various means. It is hoped that the museum will be open to the public in 2026.
Dr. Karen Mailley has an MA Joint (Hons) and an MLitt in Decorative Arts & Design History from the University of Glasgow. She helped to establish Scotland’s first online stained glass database. Image: Detail of the McCowan Window courtesy of FACT THREE.
This blog is part of the third edition of the Places of Worship Forum (POWF) Newsletter which was published on 12 November 2025. The newsletter aims to share the ongoing work of the group. Would you like to receive the next edition of the newsletter? Sign up here.
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