Restoration of stained glasswindow at Bexhill Hospital

Had it not been for Ann Loyd, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust’s premises liaison manager at the hospital, beautiful windows which once graced the hospital’s chapel might have been lost.

The building of the chapel was funded by the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital in the 1950s for the use of inpatients.

The windows were the gift of the Maynard family.

Since the main hospital block ceased to accommodate inpatients the chapel has been variously used for storage and teaching.

Vandals had peppered the windows with air rifle pellets.

At Ann Loyd’s suggestion the League of Friends has had two of the least-damaged windows removed.

They have been restored by local expert Rob Savage of Ninfield-based Stained Glass in Sussex and mounted on metal frames in the Irvine Unit entrance porch at a cost of over £5,000.

Rob was present for the recent re-dedication ceremony of the stained glass.

Other guests including Matron Liz King and Sister Debbie Gooseman from the Irvine Unit, League treasurer Chris Ashford, president John Dowling and vice president Peter Mitchell-Davis and hospital chaplain the Reverend Neville Barnett were welcomed by league chairman Cllr Stuart Earl.

The chairman thanked Ann Loyd for rescuing the beautiful works of art.

Had it not been for her, he said, they would have been “on the skip and gone.”

He congratulated Rob Savage on his skill in restoring the windows.

Re-dedicating the glass, the Rev Barnett said the windows spoke of God’s love for mankind and would be seen by everyone entering the unit.

The League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital was founded in 1952. It is the continuing generosity of the people of Bexhill which has enabled the League to provide state-of-the-art medical equipment for the benefit of Bexhill patients for nearly 60 years.

The work of the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital has been sustained from the outset entirely by voluntary help. To learn about volunteering visit [email protected].

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