Stained glass in University Chapel explored in talk and research project

Aleta Doran is behind the Trena Cox Project which aims to celebrate the life of the stained-glass artist whose work appears in churches across Chester, north Wales, the north west of England and beyond.  

The legacy of this artist has been largely forgotten about outside of artistic circles and through her Master’s of Research studies Aleta aims to capture her significant contribution to stained glass. 

Trena’s first recorded commission was for the University’s Chapel on Parkgate Road. Aleta will give a free tour of Trena’s work in the chapel during the University’s Festival of Ideas on Friday, July 5 from 2pm to 3pm. She will discuss Trena’s first piece and the three further windows she created for the chapel which span 40 years and illustrate the evolution of her style. 

The event anticipates an exhibition called Trena Cox: Reflections 100 at Chester Cathedral in Autumn 2024 celebrating Trena Cox’s huge artistic contribution to this area. The Trena Cox Project has attracted £27,000 of funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to develop an exhibition and programme of activities to celebrate Trena Cox in partnership with Chester Cathedral, the University and the Grosvenor Museum. 

Aleta began her interest in Trena Cox in 2020 when she was planning a stained-glass project at the Cathedral and came across a photograph of Trena’s work. As Aleta’s studies began to unfold, she realised that Trena’s story could be told visually through exhibitions but also through writing her Master’s of Research project. 

Aleta said: “I kept going back to this one particular image and thinking that’s such a beautiful window. The more I started looking into it the more I realised that although Trena Cox is known to specialists her name has been lost from the public realm. This seemed irresistible to me – someone who had made stained glass in Chester throughout her career and who should be part of the story of the city and the Cathedral. That was the start of my research and I didn’t imagine it would come to the point where I would be doing this for postgraduate study.” 

Trena was born in 1895 and studied at the Laird School of Art in Birkenhead. She came to Chester in 1924 and her career spanned 50 years. With early commissions at Chester Cathedral, her career blossomed and she worked from her own studio on Watergate Street in the city centre. 

Aleta added: “Trena was unusual as other female stained-glass artists tended to be based in the South of England. Her work also allows us to look at women in business as artists in the first part of the century too. 

“My work at the Cathedral and my studies all link together. It is a challenge juggling it all but I’m really enjoying it.” 

Dr Simon Grennan, Professor of Art and Design and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education at the University of Chester, is Aleta’s Master’s supervisor. He said: "Aleta's research demonstrates how scholarship can change the present by revealing overlooked aspects of the past. Trena Cox's work is a treasure, newly revealed by Aleta's diligent and inspirational work." 

The free tour of Trena’s work in the University Chapel on Friday, July 5 is one of almost 100 diverse events taking place as part of the first-ever Chester Festival of Ideas. Aiming to celebrate, entertain, inform and inspire, the Festival takes place from Thursday July 4 to Sunday July 7, 2024, in and around Chester. All the Festival details are available and places can be booked on the Festival of Ideas website.

• To book a place visit here - A Tour of Stained Glass by Trena Cox in the University of Chester Chapel – Festival of Ideas
• To find out more about the Exhibition at Chester Cathedral in October visit here - Cathedral to host first exhibition exploring the legacy of Chester’s renowned woman stained glass artist - Chester Cathedral