Gunther Anton

The first time I went into the village church at East Chinnock, I was bowled over by the stained glass windows. It's German glass, somebody told me. And the story was told again for my benefit. Gunther Anton was a prisoner of war during WW II, held nearby at the Houndstone Camp, Yeovil. During the week, he worked on a local farm, within the shadow of the village church, and he would join the congregation on Sundays and spend time in the building when he wasn't working. Restrictions were probably but lightly enforced, if at all, and he got to know local people. (There are stories circulating that he enjoyed a weekly pint at the pub with villagers.) Over the years, he built up a relationship with the village and its people. After the war, he returned to Germany, and resumed his work as a Master Glazier near Stuttgart. A project formed in his mind, with encouragement from the villagers, though apparently the Parochial Church Council was not initially very keen. Anton wanted to put stained glass windows into the church as an expression of his thankfulness to the little community in England whom he had got to know, and as an expression of gratitude to God for his life. Over the next 26 years, he supervised the installation of new windows. They are stunning in their clarity, their vibrancy and sense of life. They're all the more impressive because you don't expect to find them in a quiet little corner of Somerset.