The Anchorite: Stained Glass

In 2024 we teamed up with Kyra Women’s Project and All Saints Church, North Street, to bring the relatively unknown story of York’s Anchorite, Dame Emma Raughton, to life.

During the project, women from Kyra worked with Stained Glass artist and tutor Ann Sotheran to research, design and create the stained glass piece, learning new skills along the way. 

The project was funded by York Learning’s Multiply provision, Make It York and York Civic Trust as part of the Trailblazers project. 

A photo of the finished artwork on display in All Saints, North Street
Ann Sotheran stands next to the piece at the launch event at All Saints church, talking the audience through the story of how the piece was put together
A close up image of the centre of the design, showing Dame Emma kneeling by a simple altar with a window through which she could see the church and a stream of music notes moving towards the edge of the image
A close up section of the finished piece showing the young Dame Emma Rushton wearing yellow robes, holding a crucifix
A section of the finished piece showing Dame Emma kneeling at an altar with a stream of music flowing to one edge of the image. The edge of the image includes flowers and vines climbing up a stone wall
A sheet of flipchart paper covered in research notes, pink post it notes and initial design ideas. In the middle is an image of a man's head, to the side is a sun design
Initial design ideas and notes lie on a table, including a page showing the first drawings for the design that would finally be used
Early research drawings and notes are on a table at the launch event, including an image of Dame Emma kneeling at an altar that became the centre of the final design.