Dudley mayor gets preview of museum's restored glass screen ahead of grand unveiling in Stourbridge next week

The huge glass screen featuring the former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill once took pride of place in Dudley’s Churchill shopping centre, but was taken down decades ago as it needed significant restoration.

One of the panels from the much-loved piece of Black Country history is set to be unveiled to the public for the first time in over 30 years next week at Stourbridge Glass Museum.

The event will feature a ceremonial ‘switch-on’ of the panel’s new, state-of-the-art back-lit housing unit, allowing visitors to experience the artwork as it was originally intended - ablaze with colour and light.

A major new permanent exhibition telling the screen’s extraordinary story will open to the public in April 2026 but the Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Pete Lee, got a sneak peek of the panel at an advance showing.

Created in 1969 by renowned artist Edward Bainbridge Copnall, the Churchill Screen weighing five and a half tonnes and consisting of 17 panels was integrated into the architecture of the Churchill Precinct by Borough Architect John T Lewis.

Alexander Goodger, the director of Stourbridge Glass Museum, said: “It was part of the fabric of Dudley, a backdrop to countless shopping trips and meetings. 

"To finally bring a section of it back into public view, preserved for future generations, is a huge honour. 

"We are fundraising to get another panel conserved for the Churchill Shopping Centre if they want one. ”

Councillor Lee said: “I’m really grateful to Stourbridge Glass Museum for setting up this advance viewing. I know so many people remember the screen from back in the day, but the sheer scale of it is just remarkable. Seeing this one restored panel for the first time in 30 years was remarkable.

“The team have done an amazing job in sourcing the funding and getting specialist restoration work done. Backlighting the panel means people can see the screen as it was meant to be seen and I can’t wait until it opens to the public in April next year."

The screen suffered a vandalism attack in the 1980s which shattered the central portrait of Churchill, and another six panels. 

The surviving panels were removed when the precinct was sold in 1992 and have been in secure storage ever since. 

The project was finally realised thanks to support from the DCMS, Arts Council and Museum Development Midlands, secured for the 80th anniversary of VJ Day this year.

After the unveiling on November 20, the museum will open a comprehensive exhibition exploring the screen’s creation, its subject, its vandalism, and the public feeling it still evokes, using original installation photos, conservation reports, and fragments of the vandalised portrait.