artist and it has been said that there is scarcely a church in Britain within a radius of thirty miles that does not have a Kempe window.

A few examples of Kempe’s work can be seen at the cathedrals of Edinburgh, Gloucester, Lichfield, Winchester and Southwark, at Eton School, Lower Chapel and the churches of St Wulfran, Ovingdean, Sussex, St Mary’s, Monmouth, Gwent, St David, Exeter, Devon, and All Saint’s, Stanhoe, Norfolk, there is even one window in St Swithun’s Church, East Grinstead.

 

Geoffrey worked for a short period with Herbert Bryans before setting up his own studio in West Street, East Grinstead, working from Brooker’s Yard with his assistant Vivian Smith. His expertise not only brought in commissions to create new designs but also to restore precious ancient glass. Examples of his work can be found at the Woolwich Town Hall that was constructed between 1903 and 1906, where he was responsible for all the stained glass, outlining the history of the locality by portraying eminent residents and notable events. Although a devout Catholic, his work is found in both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in Britain and abroad. Some of these include, not only St John the Divine, Felbridge and St Mary’s, Windmill Lane, East Grinstead, but also, three windows in St Mark’s Cathedral, George, South Africa, a memorial window in St Nicholas, Kingsley, Hampshire, and windows in the parish churches of Cowfold, Lindfield and Oxted, to name but a few, all the windows in the Lady Chapel, Ashdown Park, now the Richard Towneley suite of the Ashdown Park Hotel, and windows for Manchester Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey. He was also commissioned to produce a stained glass that included a group characters from Alice in Wonderland in memory of Lewis Carroll, at the parish church at Daresbury, Cheshire, to commemorate Carroll’s birth at Daresbury Parsonage on 27th January 1832.
 

Geoffrey Webb’s work can be identified by a spider’s web with the initials G W, usually located in the bottom right hand corner of the stained glass design. In addition to his stained glass, Geoffrey also produced decorative metal work, particularly church furniture. Examples of this work include the grille in the gate to Sackville House, High Street, East Grinstead, the house in which he resided, the North doors of St Swithuns Church, East Grinstead, and the village sign at Mayfield, Sussex.
 

Geoffrey Webb died in 1954.