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Arthur Cole and the Great Hall post-war heraldic glass

If you look carefully at the stained glass in the vestibule, outside the Great Hall, you may notice a hidden detail. Tucked in the bottom right of the staircase windows is a small, hooded figure; a monk, painted on the clear glass.

Close up of glass panel, with an illustration of a hooded figure dressed in floor length robes engraved on it.
Detail of monk in vestibule staircase glass

This might seem like a strange anomaly, but the monk depicted here is the trademark of the glass makers James Powell & Sons (who by 1919 had become known as Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) Ltd). The firm still operates today as Whitefriars Glass. Their glassworks were originally based in Temple, on the site of a monastery of the Carmelite Friars beside the Thames.

The windows made by Powell & Sons were commissioned to replace those damaged throughout the Great Hall complex by various bombings during the Second World War. The Inn was fortunate not to lose any entire building ranges in either World War, but the site did not escape unscathed. The interior of the Great Hall was significantly damaged, with the roof requiring extensive repair work and the heraldic glass needing to be replaced throughout– in the Great Hall itself, the Drawing Room, the Council Room, and the Library.

The heraldic glass which had been destroyed in the War, was replaced throughout the building on the advice of Arthur Cole, a Bencher of the Inn. In the introduction to the printed Black Books Arthur Cole is described as ‘an expert on armorial bearings.’ He is mentioned frequently in the Black Books, usually in reference to various donations he offered to the Society, both before and during his time as a Bencher. In 1942 he presented the Inn with a specially designed bookplate for the Library and in 1944 he offered up the money he was paid as a firewatcher at the Inn to ‘be used by the Librarian in his or the Committee’s discretion for binding or some other object not being the purchase of law books.’

He also donated a painting to the Inn by Anna Airy – ‘Repair works to the Great Hall, September 1944.’ Anna Airy’s work was high profile at the time, and she had been one of the few women chosen to be a war artist during the First World War.

Photograph of Anna Airy painting, which depicts repairs to the Great Hall of Lincoln's Inn.
Anna Airy – Repair works to the Great Hall, September 1944

The painting shows the damage sustained to the interior of the Great Hall after a bomb fell near the Inn at the corner of Cursitor Street and Chancery Lane on 13 August 1944. At a Council meeting held on 12 October 1944, an account was read from the Under Treasurer of the damage caused by ‘enemy action’ in August of that year. It outlines the measures the Under Treasurer took following the attack. It states that, ‘Mr Vaughan Williams, Mr. Waite and Mr. Arthur Cole have seen the damage themselves and have all approved of the action which I have taken.’ Only basic repairs tended to be done to the glass and they were usually filled in the cheapest way. Proper replacement of the heraldic glass was not considered until later, once a degree of normality returned.

At a Council meeting held on 24 March 1953, suggestions from Arthur Cole regarding the glass were approved. These included that the arms should be ‘kept as simple and clear as possible’ and the south window should include the arms of the Inn, Charles II and Prince Rupert.

Arthur Cole’s efforts did not go unrecognised. At a Council meeting held on 11 February 1954 a report of the stained glass committee was read which included approval for the staircase window and the suggestion that it should include a tribute to Arthur Cole.

Close up photograph of handwritten text on blue lined paper. The writing is an italic, cursive script.
Black Books entry, Council meeting 11 February 1954

The artist of all the replacement heraldic glass was C Rupert Moore, who had joined Powell & Sons in 1950. The panels are a stunning artistic achievement in their own right and have been noted as being ‘in contention for the largest post-war heraldic commission in the world at the time.’

The dedication to Arthur Cole was duly approved and can be seen there today. The inscription reads ‘The heraldic glass throughout this building after destruction in the war 1939-1945 was replaced with the advice of ARTHUR COLE bencher of this honourable society.’