They were shipped from Birmingham late in the 18th century, and it has taken until now for the 39 stained glass windows in St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hill St to be professionally photographed and researched.

The windows were designed and constructed by Hardman and Co, a company in Birmingham that specialised in creating original stained glass windows.

Their work can be found in St Andrew’s Cathedral and St Mary’s in Sydney, and also in the Houses of Parliament in London.

 For photographer Robert Bruce, taking the images was an opportunity to continue work that he had begun over seven years ago.

“I was asked by the Wellington historical society to photograph all the church windows in Wellington, including a lot of the rural, bluestone churches out in the sticks. Many of those churches had windows donated by parents during World War One and Two, and if they had been vandalised or destroyed, all of that would have been lost.”

That job set Mr Bruce thinking about the windows at St Joseph’s and he approached Father Paul Devitt in 2014 who was fully supportive of the idea.

The next task was developing a plan of action on how to actually take the images, considering that the centre of many are nine metres above the floor.

“Taking the images in the older part of the church was relatively easy, I could do those on a step ladder, but out the front we had to get a scissor lift. And we couldn’t use any new lifts, they are two heavy for the floor, we had to use an older one with four legs.”

After much shuffling of pews and examining the light coming behind the windows, Mr Bruce had finished taking the images and had developed a new appreciation for them.

“Usually you see them at a wedding or a funeral or during mass, but very few people actually look at them in depth. They are quite beautiful.”

Researching the history of the windows was completed by Robin Hedditch who has written the articles within the book. 

“Robin has completed a PhD on Hardman, has studied Hardman windows all over the world and has been to Birmingham many times.”

The book will be launched at St Joseph’s, under the windows at 6.30pm on Friday.