Andrew Laing Memorial Window
The Andrew Laing memorial window, by A.K. Nicholson, 1934-36, on the right of St George's Chapel, Newcastle Cathedral, showing (left) three saints: St. Clement, St Nicholas and St Dunstan; and (right) the Mauretania in the panel directly under St Nicholas, with a dedication to the shipping engineer Andrew Laing. The window was donated by Laing's sisters in memory of their brother, who was perhaps the most important marine engine builder of his time.
The window includes, in the scenes either side, a celebration of other engineering feats: pylons feature on one side, and mine works on the other. But the Mauretania naturally gets pride of place. Engineering seems an unusual subject for a church stained glass window window, but the window on the left of the chapel also celebrates a famous Newcastle engineer and inventor.
Charles Parsons Memorial Window
Laing's contemporary, Sir Charles Parsons (1854-1931), inventor in 1884 of the modern steam turbine engine, is commemorated in the stained glass of this chapel too. Described in Grace's Guide as "one of the most original British engineers since the days of James Watt and ... the holder of more than 300 patents," he, like Laing, had a major impact on the development of marine engineering. His work on turbines had important applications in shipping, as well as for the generation of electricity, and he has a memorial window in Westminster Abbey as well.
Here in Newcastle, an angel above the central figure of St Christopher holds a small model of Parsons' steam-driven yacht, the first of its kind, the much-fêted Turbinia of the 1890s. This is described in Grace's Guide as having been, after a shaky start, "a spectacular success." However, Nicholson's presentation of this vessel, at such a height, is not easily noticed and is far less dramatic than the looming Mauretania of the Laing window.
Note on Newcastle's Industrial Heritage in Stained Glass
For real drama, nothing comes near the much more recent window designed by Joseph Nuttgens (1892-1982) in Pugin's St Mary's, the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Newcastle, and installed in 2006.
Seen on the right here, the "Industrial Heritage" window features a ship under construction in the central pane, with the focus on the complex scaffolding beneath the projecting prow, and shows a stream of workers leaving the construction dock through a narrow brick-walled passageway, at the end of their busy day. Not only Parsons himself, but those who laboured long and hard in the docks, are celebrated here.
Photograph of the Laing Memorial window by Colin Price. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. The close-up of the panel showing the Mauretania, the window in memory of Sir Charles Parsons, and Nuttgens' shipbuilding scene from St Mary's, Newcastle, were all taken by Mike Quinn, originally posted on the Geograph website, and kindly made available for reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Deed. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Related Material
Bibliography
"Charles Algernon Parsons." Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Web. 28 December 2025.
Pevsner, Nikolaus, and Ian Richmond. 2nd ed. revised by John Grundy et al. Northumberland. Buildings of England series. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002.
Created 28 December 2025