About
St Mary's was rebuilt by the wool merchant John Tame around 1490 and glazed by Barnard Flower, Henry VII's royal glazier, between 1500 and 1517. Twenty-eight windows tell the Bible story from Eve to the Last Judgement, and they have survived in their original frames — by some miracle of luck — through the Reformation, Civil War iconoclasm and Victorian over-restoration.
The west window is the show-piece: a vast scene of the Last Judgement in which the damned, painted in the dark blues and oranges of nightmare, are dragged towards a hell-mouth at the bottom right. Stand for ten minutes; the glass tells stories.
The Cotswold Guide Top Tips
- Volunteer guides are usually present 10am–4pm and will explain individual panes — well worth the time.
- The west window is best seen on a bright afternoon; morning light shows the chancel and east window better.
In Fairford
A quiet Cotswold market town whose church holds the only complete set of medieval stained glass in England.
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