The story of the St John the Evangelist window.
No doubt you have been wondering about the stained glass window, illuminated in its wooden case which has appeared in the South Aisle. 
The window shows St John the Evangelist holding a large book, presumably Revelations or his gospel. The window was from Emmanuel Church, Everton. On that church’s demolition, the window and its companion became the property of Keith Bryson, a good friend of mine, who was a teacher at Welshpool High School. On his retirement he took up stained glass making and restoring and had a workshop in Leg Street, Oswestry. He became friendly with Stephen Eisenstein, a consultant surgeon at the Orthopaedic Hospital who was also interested in stained glass. As Keith thought that the restoration of the windows was beyond his ability to do them justice, Steve bought them from him and stored them in his studio for some years. In the meantime, sadly, Keith was killed in an accident on his vintage motorbike at the Maesbury Road crossing. This would be in the mid 1990s.
The companion window shows St Agnes, and is now in its restored form in the entrance foyer at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital. Prompted by Keith’s death, Steve started on the restoration of the St John window. The removal had been rough, and the edges were damaged. In addition, the face of St John had been smashed, presumably while still in Everton.
In Steve’s words:- “I started on the St John window without any experience or training in restoration. I did get some help from books. Every last piece of glass had to be removed from its lead, and cleaned very carefully so as not to damage the paint. I started at top left and finished bottom right. The last piece of glass carried the ornate initials of ‘S&H’, Shrigley and Hunt, a famous studio in its day. It took many months to complete the restoration because I was also a consultant spinal surgeon at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Gobowen, with little spare time. I did all the edge repair myself, including the painting, and found a professional firm in Birmingham, Hardman’s, to make a new face for St John in the style that would have been expected. I had the opportunity to leave a tribute to Keith Bryson in the form of a triangle with his details painted on it.
The window was mounted in a sturdy wooden frame by Shaun Wood and LED backlighting installed by Iestyn Davies, Willow Street. I have enjoyed the presence of this window, installed on the landing of our staircase, for the past many years. Now is the time to pass it on to new safekeeping.”
Shrigley and Hunt were based in Lancaster and made stained glass windows in several churches, mostly in the north of England and in Wales. There are windows by them in St Oswald’s Askrigg, St Oswald’s Grasmere and St Oswald’s Preesall. There is a window by them depicting St Oswald in Lancaster Priory, so the links with St Oswald continue. The designer of the St John window was probably E.H.Jewitt, although his records with the company were destroyed in a fire.
Keith Bryson played the cello. He was in Oswestry Sinfonia for a while. He and I played in a string quartet with his girl friend Ceri and dear old David Rutherford. We were rather awful, but we had a lot of fun, with a bottle of wine and nibbles prepared by Keith. We even played in public a few times, once in a large tent at a wedding, I remember. Keith had a horror of semi-quavers, and when he saw some on the horizon he panicked and speeded up. We had to calm him down to get back to the right speed. He is still missed by those who knew him.
Thanks to Steve Eisenstein for his account, his work in restoring the window and his generosity in donating it to St Oswald’s. I think you’ll agree that it has found a suitable resting place.
6.00 pm on Sunday 25th May:- Service of receiving and blessing the stained-glass window of St. John the Evangelist in church.
Anne Pilsbury, with thanks to Chris Abram