We are not the only generation to worry about the end of the world.
While issues like climate change and nuclear weapons have made us all too aware that our planet is a fragile resource, it turns out that our ancestors had similar fears about the end times too.
The medieval patrons of All Saints Church, North Street in York commissioned a stained glass window in the early 1400s depicting the end of the world.
The window known as The Pricke of Conscience has been restored as part of a three-year project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to conserve some of York’s finest medieval stained glass.
It has just been reinstated after restoration work by conservator Keith Barley of Barley Studio in Dunnington.
The window depicts vivid images which show the seas rise and fall, the stars fall from heaven and the earth burn.
“With our world in turmoil, it’s hard not to draw parallels with these often disturbing images,” said David Titchener chair of The Friends of All Saints.
“Prayer may have been the response for our medieval forebears, but today a more practical approach is required to the ills of our planet.
“We welcome visitors to come and view the work and perhaps to reflect on the how we can work to secure a future not only for wonderful artefacts like our intricate and delicate glass and make the huge steps needed to secure a future for our world.”
The parish church, primarily from the 14th and 15th century, stands on a site that has been hallowed for worship since Norman times, and the medieval glass here is recognised as among the most important collections in the British Isles.
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