Engraved Glass – John Hutton (1968)

The engraved screen by John Hutton has two themes: figures from mythology and Tyneside’s great inventions of the nineteenth century. The smaller section shows Roman deities and other legends associated with the city. There is Coventina, goddess of the well, with three intertwined figures of nymphs of the streams; the Celtic warrior goddess Brigantia; Mythras slaying the bull; and three Celtic goddesses who were known as the ‘Three Mothers’. The larger section represents four inventions that made a fundamental contribution to world civilisation: Stephenson’s Killingworth engine, which led to the steam locomotive; Parson’s marine steam turbine ‘Turbinia’; Swan’s incandescent lamp; and Armstrong’s rifled gun. Hutton is also known for his engraving of the west window at Coventry Cathedral.

Recent renovations to the Civic Centre make this glass more difficult to see from outside, but still as a tax payer you can always walk inside.

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