The architectural sculptor William Mitchell was commissioned to make the Stations of the Cross for the new Clifton Cathedral, built 1969–73 to designs by Ronald Weeks in close collaboration with clergy and theological advisors. The concrete church, almost entirely monochrome and undecorated, is notable for the success of its integration of the ideas of the liturgical reform movements of the twentieth century, and its expression of the principles of the Second Vatican Council – a ‘sermon in concrete’, in the words of Nikolaus Pevsner. 

George Mayer-Marton’s work in mosaic for the Franciscan church of St Clare, Blackley, is one of several commissions by the Roman Catholic church in the north-west of England, but only one of three that survive.

Craigie Aitchison’s four Calvary panels for Truro Cathedral sit behind the altar in St Margaret’s Chapel. Bands of luminous colour – magenta, purple, emerald green – form the background, a simplified landscape. The first three panels are composed symmetrically. The two thieves slump on their crosses, one arm draped elastically over the cross-piece, each turned towards the central figure of Christ, who is depicted with his head raised and features cautious but peaceful. A ray of yellow light splits the deep pink sky in which a single star shines, while the Holy Spirit descends as two white lines. There are no human witnesses to the scene; instead, a black dog gazes up at Christ and a blue bird perches next to his shortened arm. The fourth panel shows, in the place of the Cross, a white, stunted tree, its single branch in bud. It is illuminated by a bright white orb – the moon, or perhaps the star from the second panel, grown larger . Aitchison has said of his repeated depictions of the Passion, ‘it is a horrific story, and I think more worth trying to say something about than anything that’s happened since.’ Here the horror is transformed into a strange and tentative hope.

Theo Moorman’s woven frontal was made initially for a side chapel at Gloucester Cathedral but was relocated to the small Norman church of St Mary, Syde, when the Thomas Denny windows were installed. Despite not being made for the church, the frontal suits its new home. The abstract composition suggests a ray of light shining out from the centre of the altar, infusing a landscape of blues with a soft yellow-gold light. The palette seems to gesture towards the church’s dedication, and echoes the Virgin’s robes in the modern window above, as if developing the symmetrical folds and strictly alternating green-gold pattern of the glass, as well as the simple floor paving, in its own, looser and yet rigorous way. The arrangement of colours and deviations from complete symmetry appear to follow a deeper logic that the weaving, as a work not just of craftsmanship but of art, makes visible.

Sutton Baptist Church was the architect N. F. Cachemaille-Day’s only known non-conformist commission; with its imposing, fortress-like brick exterior and spacious interior it is referred to informally as the ‘Baptist Cathedral’. The interior echoes the churches of German Expressionism with full height pointed arches. The architectural and liturgical centre of the church is the baptistery, against the east wall, with a pool of Hopton Wood stone and a brick reredos under a large window by Christopher Webb of scenes from Pilgrim’s Progress. Presiding over the pool, framed by two dramatic twisted brick columns, is Julian Phelps Allan’s sculpted relief depicting the Baptism of the Ethiopian.

St Laurence Church, Catford, is a notable octagonal church built by Ralph Covell in 1968. The east wall behind the freestanding altar presented a problem that for several decades remained unsolved. A plain cloth screen covering the organ pipes formed an unsatisfactory backdrop to the sanctuary, despite an illuminated dalles de verre cross in its centre. The space ‘was an empty vacuum – not even a positive absence – a negative space demanding to be filled’, as Charles Pickstone, the current vicar, has put it. Victoria Rance, an artist based in nearby Deptford, was commissioned in 2008 to produce a work that would solve this problem, with enough visual force to fill and unite the space without distracting from the altar and sanctuary.

The opening of English Martyrs RC church in 1953 marked the completion of F X Velarde’s (1897–1960) most ambitious post-war building. An expressionist brick basilica filled with colour and decorative elements; not added but embedded as intrinsic aspects of the architecture. As with all Velarde’s churches the detail was tightly controlled, work with artists being a collaboration. The most successful and longest of these collaborations was with the sculptor Herbert Tyson Smith (1883–1972).

These two marble panels by Tom Phillips (2003) flank the entrance to the Chapel of Holy Souls at Westminster Cathedral. They have since been joined by an accompanying mosaic depicting St John Henry Newman (2008), and a mosaic scheme for the ceiling of the adjacent St George’s Chapel (2016).

The Desert Window was commissioned in 2014 for the LSE’s new Faith Centre, an interfaith worship space as well as a centre for rigorous interreligious dialogue, research and training. The window’s subject points to the significance of the desert both as a place of spiritual intensity for many religions, and as a place of ‘inter-religious encounter’, in the words of the chaplain, the Revd Dr James Walters. The window thus expresses the role of the Faith Centre as a ‘place of stillness for all people, where different religious groups can “set up camp” for a while, but also a place to encounter people of other faiths, to hear their stories and to share hospitality.’

The original chapel of St Michael’s theological college was destroyed by bombing, and the architect George Pace was commissioned to design a replacement.

Nicholas Mynheer (b. 1958) and Roger Wagner (b. 1957) were commissioned to contribute to the enhancements programme at St Mary’s, Iffley, a Romanesque parish church in east Oxford.

The project for the ‘Black Madonna and Child of Covid-19 Lockdown’ (Our Lady of Kilburn) arose from the community’s experience during COVID lockdown. St Mary’s is a Black majority congregation, with most being women of working age. Many were aware of significant racial and gender differences in the effects COVID had.

‘Antony Gormley’s Transport in Canterbury is a large and striking human figure, created from iron nails formerly in the roof of the Cathedral. It is suspended three metres above the floor of the site of the first burial place of St Thomas Becket in the Eastern Crypt. [...] This is a beautifully made and very clever piece of work which impresses by its technical accomplishment’ (The Very Revd Nicholas Frayling, Chair of the judging panel for the ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context, 2011).

A highly detailed yet monochrome window depicting billowing clouds. This work was joint winner, along with James Hugonin's window for the same church, of the 2011 ACE award for art in a religious context.

Paula Rego’s pastel depicts St Margaret of Scotland with her son, David. Born in Hungary, exiled from England to Scotland under William the Conqueror, Margaret then married King Malcolm III of Scotland, abandoning a plan to become a nun.

Stephen Cox was the joint winner of the ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context in 2007/8 for this altar which was commissioned by the people of Aosta in Italy from where the piece of marble was excavated. St Anselm is buried in the chapel having been born in Aosta.

Contemporary window chronicling the North Sea Oil industry, with links to Aberdeen and in memory of all those who lost their lives in the industry. The window won a Saltire Award for Arts in Architecture.

Henry Moore’s Madonna and Child is a work of international significance. The sculpture is in Hornton stone and was carved for the church by Moore in 1943-44.

St Martin in the Fields’ East Window by Shirazeh Houshiary in collaboration with Pip Horne was commissioned as part of major redevelopments within the church and its curtilage.

Jonah Jones' concrete-glass window, baldacchino and mosaics are installed at the Catholic Church of St Patrick, Newport, Gwent. The large window shows the saint in purple archbishop’s vestments.

The Chagall windows at Tudeley were commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady d'Avigdor-Goldsmid in memory of Sarah d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, their daughter who died in 1963 at the tragically early age of 21, in a sailing accident off Rye. Sarah d'Avigdor-Goldsmid and her mother had visited the 1961 Louvre exhibition of Chagall's work.

George Mayer-Marton’s Crucifixion mural at the Church of the Holy Rosary (1954–5) was one of several commissions by the Roman Catholic church in the North-West, but only one of three that survive.

Located on opposite walls of the aisles either side of the sanctuary in Liverpool Cathedral are two paintings by Adrian Wiszniewski: The Good Samaritan (south choir aisle) and The House Built on Rock (north choir aisle).

The murals at St Michael and All Angels were among the first works to be created by Hayward after he established himself as a freelance artist in 1961. Their blues, greens and golds were to become characteristic of Hayward’s stained glass for which he became famous in later years. The murals use the marouflage technique: the images are painted in the artist’s studio and then cut out and glued to the wall of the church. Each was designed specifically for the space it was to occupy. When they were installed in 1962, they were said to be the largest modern set of murals anywhere in the world.

The design is inspired by a 17th century map of the town and includes significant historical landmarks such as neolithic earthworks and an early medieval castle. The main road clearly marked on the map becomes a horizon line in the window. In the ‘sky’ above, a golden shape glows with light where the ruins of Ludgershall Castle now stand.

Pauline Caulfield has produced vestments and altar frontals throughout her career.

In 2018 she had an exhibition of Ecclesiastical textiles at St Augustine’s Church, Hammersmith, London.

In 1989 Stead was commissioned by the North Sea Oil Industries to design and make the fittings for a new Memorial Chapel in the Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen: 40 chairs, a lectern, communion table, a minister's chair, a screen.

This work 'was created in honour of Bishop Michael Ramsey, and intended to reflect his theological interests, in particular his fascination with the Transfiguration of Christ... The window is in the South Quire Aisle and is 16x16m in size. This window is technically very assured and of high quality. Its location means that it can only really be seen at close quarters, and it is indeed very detailed in its depiction of biblical images.’

Created by Maggi Hambling for the High Altar at Winchester Cathedral, these tapestries, the artist’s first, were dedicated on 7 July 2013. Maggi Hambling collaborated with Ateliers Pinton – a French tapestry workshop in the Aubusson region which has worked with artists such as Picasso, Miro, Leger and Sutherland (for Coventry).

During WWII, Bishop Bell commissioned Bloomsbury group artists, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell to cover much of the church in extensive murals. Duncan Grant's The Victory of Calvary shows Christ in victory on the Cross. Jesus is not obviously suffering; here he is the victor, standing on a platform rather than hanging down. Grant originally depicted Christ unclothed, a decision which drew criticism from the Church, so he repainted a cloth around his waist.

One of many ovoid domes in the Cathedral which has been given imagery and decoration using mosaic. The works depict St Francis preaching to the birds and St Anthony to the fishes.

A semi-figurative mosaic on the East wall, with an unusual black background. John Piper’s (1903-1992, British) paintings mainly focus on the British landscape and churches.

Antonia Hockton's River of Life reredos at St Georges, Great Bromley, Essex adds greatly to the way the altar in the side chapel works. This was just what a parish church should be doing: engaging a local artist who explores the context and makee something new that flows into the altar and on to those who worship there, and although it may have seemed a lot to the parish, it was achieved relatively inexpensively.

Originally sculpted for the chapel at Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire, and commissioned by the Society of the Sacred Mission, the Rood now sits in the south nave of St John the Divine where the SSM was founded in the 19th Century.

In 2000 Gollon was commissioned to paint 14 Stations of the Cross for the Church of St John on Bethnal Green, a grade one listed building designed by Sir John Soane. This was one of the largest commissions by the Church of England in recent times. Although previously Gollon was not best known for his religious work, the Rector Alan Green explained, "The church of St John on Bethnal Green has had a long-standing involvement with people on the fringes of our society, the sort of people who often figure in Chris' paintings.

Ceri Richard's reredos and stained glass were conceived as a single triptych, abstractly flowing one into another. The tabernacle has more obvious imagery: the heavens, the chalice and the cross.

This window was designed by Eduardo Paolozzi, who was born in Leith, to replace the plain glass rose and lancets in the Resurrection Chapel. Given in memory of Mary Carmichael, a much loved member of the congregation, it was dedicated in October 2002. When the sun floods through the window, it transforms the plain stone and woodwork into a kaleidoscope of colour.

The paintings integrate theologically with existing features, and express the fullness of the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost story. The sheer size of the work assists in seeing and understanding the size of the work of Christ, with darker lower sections focusing attention on the ‘darkness’ endured in the Passion, and the brightness of the upper sections lifting the eyes to resurrection, light, life, empowering and hope.

Behind the altar table in Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, Suffolk, is a powerful altarpiece by Laurence Edwards. Cast in bronze from the mud, wood and hogweed that can be found all around the Suffolk locality, Edward’s sculpture brings the precise beauty of the outside marsh into the church in a way that combines imagination, emotion and spirit.

“ … There is a sense of latency and loss in the painting; but it also establishes a feeling of hope, a sense that, against all hope, hope yet remains.

"It also speaks a quite personal word to me,  and many like me in today’s world, for whom the old ways of speaking about God have lost their power and immediacy.  Still suggests an absence that is strangely like a presence.”

Small scale linocuts sympathetically framed and placed at regular intervals around the church.

Alice Sielle (b. 1950, British) is predominantly an abstract painter with a wide range of influences from Barnet Newman to Piero della Francesca.

Graham Sutherland's Crucifixion, unveiled in 1963, was the third he had created for a church and the first and only commission that he received from a Roman Catholic Church, despite being a Catholic himself. It taps another theme found within the revival of sacred art, a focus on the horror of crucifixion. For Sutherland this derives from reflection on the terror inherent in both Grünewald’s Isenheim altarpiece and the reality of the Holocaust.

Mark Cazalet was commissioned to create a painting on 35 oak panels depicting the Tree of Life. Mark, speaking about the installation, said that the inspiration behind the piece was the music and choral tradition of the Cathedral and that he very much wanted his mural to reflect this, with the swirling motion in the painting representing the musical traditions. Mark wanted the symmetrical design of the tree to represent opposing ideas with the tree bursting into life on one side and dying back on the other.