<P> Coloured glass has been produced since ancient times . Both the Egyptians and the Romans excelled at the manufacture of small coloured glass objects . Phoenicia was important in glass manufacture with its chief centres Sidon, Tyre and Antioch . The British Museum holds two of the finest Roman pieces, the Lycurgus Cup, which is a murky mustard colour but glows purple - red to transmitted light, and the Portland vase which is midnight blue, with a carved white overlay . </P> <P> In early Christian churches of the 4th and 5th centuries, there are many remaining windows which are filled with ornate patterns of thinly - sliced alabaster set into wooden frames, giving a stained - glass like effect . </P> <P> Evidence of stained glass windows in churches and monasteries in Britain can be found as early as the 7th century . The earliest known reference dates from 675 AD when Benedict Biscop imported workmen from France to glaze the windows of the monastery of St Peter which he was building at Monkwearmouth . Hundreds of pieces of coloured glass and lead, dating back to the late 7th century, have been discovered here and at Jarrow . </P> <P> In the Middle East, the glass industry of Syria continued during the Islamic period with major centres of manufacture at Raqqa, Aleppo and Damascus and the most important products being highly transparent colourless glass and gilded glass, rather than coloured glass . </P>

When did stained glass windows start in churches