Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

Charles Norris OSB (1909-2004) was an influential artist who created works in stained glass and

dalle de verre ''Dalle de verre'', from French: "glass slab", is a glass art technique that uses pieces of coloured glass set in a matrix of concrete and epoxy resin or other supporting material. Technique The technique was developed by Jean Gaudin in Paris i ...

for Roman Catholic churches in the UK. He is thought to be the most prolific artist working in dalle de verre in the UK in the 20th century. His contributions to listed Modernist buildings are an integral part of their value and are mentioned in their listings.

Life and work

Charles Norris (1909-2004) was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk and glass artist He was born Louis Charles Norris and he studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in the 1920s. He entered

Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac (later Cistercian) abbey cons ...

in 1930 as the age of 21 and began to work as a stained glass artist in 1933. He supervised a team of monks to rebuild the abbey, including the east window in

in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Pierre Fourmaintraux Francois Pierre Fourmaintraux (known as Pierre) (1896-1974) was a renowned glass artist who is credited with having introduced the dalle de verre technique to the UK and having taught other influential glass artists such as Dom Charles Norris. Pe ...

is said to have brought the dalle de verre technique to Britain before joining

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers. As ''Whitefriars Glass'', the company existed from the 17th century, but became well k ...

(later Whitefriars Glass Studio) in 1956. He trained Dom Charles Norris in the technique, with Norris becoming one of the most prolific British proponents. Norris's design of the east window is mentioned in the List Entry Summary for Buckfast Abbey on the

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

site. In addition to his work in the workshops of Buckfast Abbey, Dom Charles Norris also had an association with the workshop at

Prinknash Abbey Prinknash Abbey (pronounced locally variously as "Prinidge/Prinnish") (IPA: ) is a Roman Catholic monastery in the Vale of Gloucester in the Diocese of Clifton, near the village of Cranham. It belongs to the English Province of the Subiaco Cas ...

and with

Aylesford Priory Aylesford Priory, or "The Friars" was founded in 1242 when members of the Carmelite order arrived in England from Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Richard de Grey, a crusader, sponsored them, and conveyed to the order a parcel of land locate ...

in Kent. Dom Charles Norris completed windows for a large number of churches including those at Perranporth Our Lady's, Lillington and Our Lady of Fatima, Harlow. Vitro buckfast

A review by the

Diocese of Plymouth The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where the bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface. ...

and

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

notes: "The latter Waldo Maitland’s Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran,

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

(1973) is one of a large number of churches in the Diocese with stained glass designed and made under the supervision of Dom Charles Norris at Buckfast Abbey (an early example at Falmouth, dating from 1948, is illustrated on the front cover)."Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth: An Architectural and Historical Review for English Heritage and the Diocese of Plymouth, The Architectural History Practice Limited, 2009

Works

Buckfast Abbey

Buckfast Abbey credits Dom Charles with the following artworks, noting: "In 1968 Dom Charles completed his most striking embellishment of the church the huge east window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. This employs the technique known as dalles-de-verre in which ‘tiles’ of coloured glass are chipped into shape and laid, mosaic-fashion, in a matrix of resin. Following this work, windows were made at Buckfast for many churches throughout the country." *Painted the lantern tower ceiling in egg-tempera (1939). *Designed the marble pavement in the choir (1949). *Laid the floor in the Lady Chapel (1958). *Stained glass window at Buckfast Abbey (1965). *East window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel (1968). A review by the

and

notes: "Norris’s finest work is at Buckfast itself, where his glass of 1965 floods the newly-built Lady Chapel with warm red and blue glows".

Work on listed buildings

Many of the listings of notable 20th century churches include references to the importance of Dom Charles Norris's work. He collaborated on several listed churches with notable 20th century architect

Gerard Goalen Gerard Thomas Goalen (16 December 1918 – 2 January 1999) was a British architect who specialised in church architecture and was influenced by continental models and the Liturgical Movement. He was one of the most important architects of the C ...

and artist Steven Sykes. St Gregory the Great, South Ruislip - Grade II listed Designed by Gerard Goalen in 1965, Historic England gives as a reason for its designation 'artistic interest', saying: "reflective of a culture of sacred art within the Catholic Church, and Goalen’s interest in the use of contemporary art in combination with architecture, St Gregory’s contains several notable works of art by a number of highly regarded C20 artists, including

Patrick Reyntiens Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens OBE (; 11 December 1925 – 25 October 2021) was a British stained-glass artist, described as "the leading practitioner of stained glass in this country." Personal life Reyntiens was born in December 1925 at 68 Ca ...

, Steven Sykes, Dom Charles Norris and Willi Soukup". Church of Our Lady Lillington - Grade II listed A Roman Catholic church, built in 1963, by Henry Fedeski ARIBA, with extensive dalle-de-verre glass by Dom Charles Norris OSB of Buckfast Abbey, and mosaic by Steven Sykes. Historic England cites the Church's artistic embellishment as one of the reasons for its designation. "The glory of the church is the extensive scheme of brightly-coloured dalle-de-verre glass designed by Dom Charles Norris of Buckfast Abbey, which fills the walls entirely at clerestory level, and is used for all the ground-floor glazing; it is complemented by mosaic work by Steven Sykes, who had also worked at Coventry Cathedral." Although designed by Norris, the glass itself was made at Prinknash Abbey. Church of Our Lady Fatima, Harlow - Grade II listed A Roman Catholic church designed 1953-4 by Gerard Goalen and built 1958–60. Its listing by Historic England says: "The chief decorative feature is the slab and fused slab glass set in concrete, designed and made by Dom Charles Norris OSB of Buckfast Abbey, assisted by Paulinus Angold and Jerome Gladman...

he church He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

was the first to combine this iturgically-planned featureswith modern glass, already so popular in France, Germany and Switzerland, where Goalen had travelled extensively." Marychurch, Hatfield - Grade II listed A Roman Catholic church designed in 1970 by George Mathers. Historic England cites the glasswork as one of the reasons for the church's listing: "The church is embellished by highly accomplished pieces of art work: these include the extensive scheme of dalle de verre glass by Dom Charles Norris and Dom Paulinus Angold, as well as the welded steel screen and font by

Angela Godfrey Angela Godfrey is an English sculptor and Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Personal life Angela Godfrey was born in 1939 in London. She studied fine art at King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne from 1957 to 1961. She then taught at Mid-Wa ...

". The listing goes on to elaborate on Norris's contribution: "The windows in Marychurch were designed by Dom Charles Norris (d.2004), a Benedictine monk and artist, trained at the Royal College of Art, who with Dom Paulinas Angold (d.2010) had been responsible for the creation and construction of the coloured glass at Buckfast Abbey Church (Grade II*), where they developed the technique to create lighter windows using Epoxy Resin and sand instead of concrete." The Parish Church of St John The Evangelist, Exmouth - Grade II listed This church was reordered in 1964 and at that time a dalle-de-verre screen by Dom Charles Norris was added. Historic England highlights the screen in its listing noting how Dom Charles Norris's work in this material "became well-known and influential". Church of the Holy Redeemer, St Wulstan and St Eadburga, Pershore - Grade II listed A Roman Catholic church designed by Scottish architect Hugh Bankart ARIBA, FRIBA in 1958–59, which includes a three-light dalle-de-verre west window by Dom Charles Norris. Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Simon Stock, Aylesford - Grade II* listed The Roman Catholic Shrine was designed by

Adrian Gilbert Scott Adrian Gilbert Scott (6 August 1882 – 23 April 1963) was an English ecclesiastical architect. Early life Scott was the grandson of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott), son of George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (founder of Watts & Company in 1 ...

. It contains works by a large number of notable artists including (in the Relic Chapel) "four pairs of semi-abstract dalle de verre windows made by Dom Charles Norris from Kossowski’s designs". Norris also contributed the windows in the exedra chapels. Church of St Bernadette, Belfast - Grade B+ listed A fan-shaped Roman Catholic church capable of seating over 1000 people which was designed by Brian Gregory and opened in 1967. It contains many works of modern art, most notably a nine-foot-high Crucifixion sculpture by

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

. Dom Charles Norris' dalle-de-verre windows form the whole of the curved façade of the building.

Other churches

Norris created works in dalle de verre and stained glass for Roman Catholic churches around the UK including:

St Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

(Tintagel, Cornwall), Church of St Winefride (Welshpool, Powys), Church of the Good Shepherd (Nottingham), St Mary (Barnstaple), Our Lady of Victories (Callington), Christ the King (Perranporth, Cornwall), Our Lady Star of the Sea (St Agnes, Cornwall), St Joseph (Shaw), St Margaret Mary (Plymstock), St Joseph (Accrington), Good Shepherd (New Addington), St Philip and St James (Herne Hill), Holy Rood (Swindon), St Theresa of Lisieux (Lexden), St Vincent de Paul (Rochdale), St Joseph (Blackburn), St Hugh of Lincoln (Manchester), English Martyrs (Sparkhill, Birmingham), Our Lady of Light (Long Crenden), St Bernadine of Siena (Buckingham), St Boniface (Crediton), St Joseph (Wroughton), Holy Redeemer, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (St Elmo's Road, London SE16), Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran (Truro), St Mary Immaculate (Falmouth), St Joseph (Weston Super Mare), Sacred Heart and St Ia (St Ives), St Mary (Alton), Christ the King (Milnthorpe), St Patrick (Jersey), Sacred Heart (Westbury-on-Trym), Christ the King (Burwash), Saint Bernard (Knott End).

Books

* ''Buckfast Abbey'', Burleigh (date?) * ''Buckfast Abbey A Pictorial Survey'', Buckfast Abbey Publications (1938) * ''Buckfast Abbey Works of Art'', Curwen Press (date?)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Charles 1909 births 2004 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Art British stained glass artists and manufacturers British Benedictines