Alan Christopher Wyrill Younger (13 March 1933,Forest Hill, London – 12 May 2004,Crystal Palace, London)[1] was a stained-glass artist working in both figurative and abstract modes. His work can be found across Britain in cathedrals, churches and secular buildings, and also in various countries in the Middle East. He was a prominent figure in the world of stained-glass design, notably as a Fellow and vice-president of theBritish Society of Master Glass Painters.
Alan Younger was born in 1933 in Forest Hill, London, the son of Henry Walter Younger, an employee ofSainsbury's. His third name, Wyrill, came from his mother's maiden name.[1] He was educated atAlleyn's School, initially at its permanent home inDulwich but later atRossall, where it had to be evacuated during the Second World War. HisNational Service was spent as a second lieutenant with theRoyal Army Service Corps Egypt. He left the Army in 1953.[2][3]
Younger studied fine arts at theCentral School of Arts and Crafts in London, and while still studying there he became an assistant to the stained-glass artistCarl Edwards.[2] He continued with Edwards for six years, helping him with windows for the House of Lords and theChurch of England Cathedral in Liverpool, and creating his own first window for theTemple Church in London.[1][4] In 1959 he left Edwards' studio to begin a six-year stint working forLawrence Lee, whoseCoventry Cathedral windows had made a deep impression on him. From Edwards, according to Caroline Benyon, he learned how to run a glass-designing business, from Lee how to develop his talent as an artist.[1][5] During these years he was awarded theWorshipful Company of Glaziers' prize and the Sir Arthur Evans Travelling Scholarship, the latter of which financed a tour of France and Germany studying their medieval and contemporary stained glass.[1] On leaving Edwards he set up in business on his own account, securing commissions from the parish churches ofHaselbech, Northamptonshire andBoldre, Hampshire in 1966 and 1967 respectively. The latter window has been called "a choice work".[6] In these early years he was working inThe Glass House, Fulham,[5] but in 1969 he moved house to Belvedere Road, Crystal Palace, and built a studio for himself in his garden.[1]
In 1973 he was chosen to design a window for the Galilee Chapel ofDurham Cathedral to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the VenerableBede's birth;[7] in 1987 a window inSt Albans Cathedral, described as "one of the very few modernrose windows which can compare with those of the early Middle Ages";[4][2] in 1992, to mark its 900th anniversary, three windows inChester Cathedral;[8] in 1993 another atSouthwark Cathedral;[9] in 1997–2003 another in the Royal Memorial Chapel at theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst;[10] and in 2000 a window in theHenry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey (2000).[4] He also worked during the 1980s on numerous stained-glass designs for palaces, mosques and private villas in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East.[1]
St Mary's Church, Luton, Bedfordshire. The five-light Magnificat Window in the south transept (1979). Its abstract design is intended to represent Mary's "explosion of happiness" and "outpouring of gratitude".[12][13] TheBuildings of England notes its "outstanding quality".[14]
The Stained Glass Museum, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Several stained-glass works and preparatory designs are held, though they are not necessarily on display.[15]
St Peter's Church,Flushing, Cornwall. Younger's 1995 window was described inThe Buildings of England as "a striking and successful abstract design, the best in Cornwall".[16]
St Mary's and St Bartholomew's Church,Cranborne, Dorset. The five-light East Window (1992).[17]
St Mary Magdalene's Church,Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset. The West Window (1973) depicts the Virgin Mary, St Mary Magdalene, and St John.[18]
St Aldhelm's Chapel, Worth Matravers, Dorset. A design using a variety of white glasses rather than stained glass.[5]
The East Window of St John the Baptist's Church,Boldre, Hampshire
St James the Great's Church,Friern Barnet, Greater London. The East Window (1974), an abstract.[21]
St Mary's Church, Putney, Greater London. The rose window at the east end of the south aisle and all six of the north aisle windows were made by Younger in 1982.[22]
St Paul's Church,Woodford Bridge, Greater London.The Buildings of England notes Younger's "delightful roundel in clear glass, the border with tiny animals; 1987".[23]
St Editha's Church, Tamworth, Staffordshire. The West Window (1975) has an abstract design intended to suggest the New Jerusalem.[24]
Under the tutelage of Lawrence Lee he developed a loose, spontaneous style ultimately rooted in the tradition ofWilliam Morris and theArts and Crafts movement. He did not employ assistants except for the actual installation of the finished window, and rarely made full-size cartoons, instead using 1/12th scale designs as a starting point on which he would improvise while actually working with his materials. "Clients and friends", reported one obituary, "were fascinated to see how he would use brushes, a rag or a crumpled ball of paper to apply texture to his glass-painting." He was equally at home working in figurative, semi-abstract or fully abstract modes.[2][1]
With his wife Zoe, whom he married in 1957, he had two daughters. Younger and his wife shared a love of theatre and music.[2] He was also a keen sportsman, initially as a cricketer – he played for his school, and during his time in the army for the Middle East Combined Services[4] – then as a tennis-player and swimmer. He was diagnosed with cancer in early 2004, and died on 12 May of that year.[2]
^"Catalogue search".The Stained Glass Museum. Ely, Cambridgeshire. Retrieved24 November 2025.
^Beacham, Peter; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2014).Cornwall. The Buildings of England. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 198.ISBN9780300126686. Retrieved26 November 2025.
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