We met at Sacred Heart Church in Cumbernauld on 19th June 2026 to explore and enjoy the marvellous walls of dalle de verre created by Sadie McLellan in the 1960s.
Father John and his team of helpers made us extremely welcome. They not only greeted us with coffee on arrival and allowed us to hold our event in this wonderful environment, they also put on a delicious lunch. Salads and quiche and lasagna, all home made, and to our astonishment even a choice of wines! THANK YOU FATHER JOHN AND ALL THE TEAM.
Our Chair Susan Bradbury was pleased to welcome everyone, faces familiar and new, and especially Jim Blekeviz, who as a teenage school leaver had worked with Sadie on the manufacture of the walls of concrete and glass at Sacred Heart. You can read Jim’s memories of working with Sadie in our BLOG.
Unusually, this meeting was a follow-on from our March meeting at the Robin Chapel, where we enjoyed the traditional leaded stained glass of Sadie McLellan, one of the greatest Scottish stained glass artists. We came to Cumbernauld to explore her work in a different medium, where she was equally masterful. Glass of course, but with concrete instead of lead, and here forming a major part of the impact of the architecture.
The church is one of several created by renowned architectural company Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, whose work is sometimes described as brutal. But McLellan’s contribution has undoubtedly turned the concrete box of Sacred Heart Church into a casket of richly coloured spiritual light. The illustrations show how the solidity of the concrete enhances and enriches the colours of the glass.
The first speaker was Liz Rowley, a stained glass artist and trustee of SSGT, who described her adventures in making dalle de verre windows. She explained the way the thick slabs of glass are facetted with a hammer, and the way the facets affect the qualities of the glass, giving sparkle and tonal variation.
Next our secretary Rona Moody spoke on the achievements and art historical context of Sadie’s work (see an earlier BLOG by Rona for more info on McLellan.)
Then Susan and Fizz (our treasurer) shared a series of readings giving insight into her reputation and her legacy, including excerpts from a poem “The Terrible Crystal” which was dedicated to Sadie McLellan. It was written by one of Scotland’s foremost poets, Hugh MacDiarmid – what an honour for an artist!
Then we spent some time basking in the multicoloured light and exploring the symbolism of these very spiritual windows.
It was hard to drag ourselves away, but when we finally reached the hall, there was a table laid out with interesting items to look at. These including a selection of books and articles featuring McLellan, Liz’s specialist tools for making dalle de verre panels and a laptop with slides showing lots of Sadie’s work at other venues, including Glasgow Cathedral, Pluscarden Abbey and of course the Robin Chapel, where we had held our March Symposium.
There was also the aforementioned lunch – thanks again to our generous hosts.
