Coventry Cathedral glass engraving damaged in set-up for music event

Deep cracks have appeared in one of the huge angels etched into John Hutton’s west screen of glass panels at Coventry Cathedral after a major music event. It has prompted concern that the increase in cathedrals hosting outside events, a big source of revenue, risks damaging some of the UK’s most important religious architecture. The west screen, considered a 20th-century masterpiece, has 66 larger-than-life saints and angels designed and hand-engraved by Hutton. It was commissioned by the architect, Sir Basil Spence, whose monumental building incorporated the ruins of the 14th-century cathedral, which was bombed during the second world war. Jennifer Alexander, a professor of architectural history at Warwick University, said the etched panels were groundbreaking when they were first revealed. “Nobody had ever done anything on that scale before,” she said. The screen was damaged on 22 May, when the Illuminated Orchestra was setting up for its concert of “dark fantasy film music”. The ensemble regularly performs in historical buildings. Its musical director, Kellija Moncaka, said the the damage was caused by a freak accident involving a ladder used to put up lighting. John Hutton’s west screen with the damaged panel on the left covered by chipboard Photograph: Professor Louise Campbell “It was purely an accident of a gust of wind … when we were setting up,” she said. …