Stained Glass of Percy Bacon

Reading, St Stephen's, Ort Road (lost works).

Berkshire

Posted 23 June 2023.

St Stephen’s¹ was designed by the architect William White, who worked in close connection with the Ecclesiological Society, and whose designs were often reviewed in the Ecclesiologist.² He had developed a style influenced by polychromy, which he believed was an essential requirement for the sublime and “repose” of a building. To describe St Stephen’s church as ugly might be to understate the matter. To many a modern eye this church may be considered a contender for the worst of mid-nineteenth century brutalist Gothic architecture. Like a good many churches of the era, St Stephen’s was built tall and massive, very much in keeping with the Ecclesiologist's entreaties of the day; that a church, especially those in urban settings must stand out from the crowd of humble dwellings surrounding it. White’s designs for churches would often follow this simple methodology, but St Stephen’s is not his best work. The great bulk of the west wall with its domineering and excessively large double bell cote not more than three bricks in width giving an altogether two dimensional appearance was unnecessarily brutal, and poorly proportioned. Before the addition of the south aisle, the west elevation would have been doubly so by being asymmetrical, and the high windows gave the church more the look and feel of a fortress, built to repel all-comers, than to welcome worshippers. A west door might have mitigated this bulky mass of brick, but even this was omitted. The height of windows was considered in White's paper for the Ecclesiologist, "Modern Design - On Windows".³ In it he stated, "In an official or a public building, the light can hardly be admitted too high. If it is let in at its proper height-that is to say, well above men's heads-one can hardly get into another's light , and the whole place is then pleasantly and equally lighted", and "... that concentration was improved when the light is admitted high than when it is admitted low". This rigidity of thinking doubtless informed the positioning of the windows in St Stephen's, much to its detriment.⁴

It has to be noted that St Stephen's was built on a tight budget. The competing requirements of economy with that of providing seating of more than 400 souls (the edifice was run up at a cost just shy of £3,000), necessitated the sacrifice of adornment, and maintenance of simplicity. Even as the foundation stone was being laid on 8th February 1864, the incumbent, the Rev. T. V. Fosbery was writing to the local paper appealing for an additional £900 to complete the works.⁵ In order to fulfil the capacity requirement, White’s original design called for benches to be crammed into the north aisle of the chancel, and although orientated to face the pulpit which stood at the south east corner of the nave, and given the intervening chancel screen and north pillar supporting the chancel arch, many congregants sitting on those pews would have had a hard time seeing the celebrant, let alone hearing him! ⁶ White’s love of polychromy was well in evidence, both inside and out. Externally, horizontal bands of lighter coloured brick broke up the monotony of the walls, while the interior brickwork was fixed with extra wide bands of light mortar, in a manner previously used at St Michael & All Angels, Lyndhurst, Hampshire-another brick church whose design is altogether more pleasing to the eye. At St Stephen's, other than a few flourishes such as the carved capitals on the pillars, the interior was plain. Such was the lack of funds that some items of embellishment were initially omitted, leaving stone terminals, caps and corbels unembellished, and the east end undecorated. Further economy was achieved by omitting an organ. This would not be installed until 1892.⁷ White’s fee for his efforts was £141 5s 4d (about £14,500 in March 2023 money).⁸ The church was consecrated on 16th March 1865, but to satisfy the growing population of the parish and the need to expand available capacity, a south aisle was added in 1886 along with a vestry extension to the north side. The church closed in 1976 and was later demolished. The site, on the junction of Rupert Street and Orts Road is now occupied by blocks of apartments known as St Stephen's Court.

Back to top

East Window, Christ Consoler, St John, St Stephen, St Alban and St Paul, 1925.

Posted 23 June 2023.

It is not clear whether any of the stained glass in St Stephen's was preserved prior to it's demolition, or suffered the same fate as the rest of the church. However, Berkshire Records Office holds the original design for the window, along with a receipt for its execution.⁹ The east window consisted of five narrow lights of varying heights with tracery, each light carrying a standing figure within an elaborate niche. In the centre, Christ the Consoler is flanked to the left by St John the Evangelist holding a chalice, and St Stephen with the stones of his martyrdom. To Christ's right are the figures of St Alban and St Paul. The top tracery lights contain winged cherubs, and the lower lights leaf motifs.

The memorial inscription read:

The window cost £210 (about £10,000 at 2023 prices).

 

 

Back to top

 

Baptistery Window, Presentation in the Temple & the standing figure of Christ, 1925.

Posted 23 June 2023.

As with the east window, the fate of the glass in the baptistery window is not known, but the design has been preserved in the BRO. The window of two lights with simple quatrefoil tracery was installed at the same time as the east. In the left light, representing the Presentation in the Temple, St Simeon holds the infant jesus. In the right light the standing figure of Christ. The scrolls above are blank in the design drawing but were likely to have been filled with a verse from the bible. In the tracery, a dove to symbolise the holy spirit.

The memorial inscription reads:

The window cost £45 (about £2,200 at 2023 prices).

 

 

 

 

 

Back to top

References: Use your browser's Back button to return to text.

1. For a detailed description of the church see Reading Mercury - Saturday 18 March 1865, p5, Col 3.
2. Muthesius, S. The High Victorian Movement in Architecture, 1850-1870. p76.
3. The Ecclesiologist, Vol 17, October 1956, p319.
4. For a detailed dissection of William White's beliefs and attitudes, see Hunter, G. M. An Examination of the Work of William White FSA (1825-1900). 2006. Doctoral thesis.
5. Reading Mercury, Saturday 19 March 1892, p5. Report on consecration of new organ.
6. Plan of St Stephen's Church dated 1863 in the Lambeth Palace Library.
7. Reading Mercury - Saturday 19 March 1892, p5
8. Reading Mercury - Saturday 06 February 1869, p1. List of subscribers to the church building fund and expenditure.
9. Berkshire Records Office bundle D/P172B/3/1-3. This bundle contains a receipt Letter from percy Bacon to Ernest Pearce with receipts for the east and baptistery windows, and a brass memorial plaque from Percy Bacon of 4 Endsleigh Gardens dated 6th April 1925 which confirms the date of the windows' execution.