Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

St Oswald's, Ashbourne

St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Posted 12 September 2022.

Simon Jenkins ventures to suggest that St Oswald's is, "one of the finest works of art in the country".¹ One has to agree. Locally it is known as "The Pride of the Peak". It is large, lofty and unapologetically grand, a mini cathedral, cruciform with a massive central tower and slender octagonal stone spire, the junctions of each face delineated by carved ribs. That spire has been a constant source of trouble over the centuries having been the main subject of restoration a number of times. It has been blown down more than once, and was rebuilt after such a calamity in 1698. Trawling the reports of restorations of St Oswald's in the British Library News Archive, one gets the solid impression that the work of repair was (and perhaps is) a fairly continuous affair. Major works were carried out in 1841, 1873, 1891, 1894-95 and 1913-14. It is reported that during the 1873 work, the gilded weather cock atop the spire was placed by the vicar, the Rev Edward Marsham Moore, who ascended the tower using the scaffolding carrying the vane on his back. He was then hoisted by a jib into a position where he was able to successfully land it.² The chancel was restored by George Gilbert Scott in 1873. A more thorough restoration under W A Forsyth was carried out in 1931-2.³

The windows in this church soar in gothic splendour, almost to the roof. The north transept has a clearstory above narrow lancets into which 13th century medallions depicting scenes from the life of Christ have been preserved, probably dating from the building of the church in 1241.⁴ Aside from the Percy Bacon glass, there are some fine examples of the art form, perhaps some of the best examples of the age in a parish church spanning the Gothic Revival of the 19th century and Arts and Crafts Movement of the 20th. The east and west windows are filled with Kempe glass (1895 & 1902 respectively), while in the south aisle one can see a fine example of Christopher Whall from 1905. Kempe is traditional: Saints and Angels in the west and a Jesse tree in the east. Whall is more ethereal, the imagery more grounded in earthly events than heavenly symbolism. This is a window commemorating two local girls who died in a domestic fire. He depicts maidens (Ss Barbara and Dorothea) with flowers in their hair and a small angelic choir, one playing the organ beside a the figure of St Cecilia who appears to be asleep. In other areas, full of symbolism, thorns bar the way to the Holy City, and a fountain is kept out of reach enclosed as it is by iron railings.

Ss Columba, Aidan and Chad.

St Columba holding a model of Iona abbey.

St Aidan.

St Chad, founder of Lichfield Cathedral, holding a model of his work.

Ashbourne St Oswal: North Aisle 3.

St Oswald's, Ashbourne: St Columba, St Aidan & St Chad

Posted 12 September 2022.

The Percy Bacon & Brothers window depicts Ss Columba, Aidan and Chad. Each holds a symbol of their lives; Columba a model of the Abbey at Iona, St Aidan holds a young stag, and St Chad a model of Lichfield Cathedral (albeit the modern incarnation) which he founded.

This is typical Bacon. The colours are restrained and muted, and there is a great deal of white glass and yellow stain, making this probably the lightest window in the church. The saints stand in elaborate niches with wide columns.

The window is dedicated to Neville Beard, a local engineer who died 20 September 1907⁵. The dedication ceremony was conducted on 19th December 1909.⁶

The window is signed, PERCY BACON BROS. 11 NEWMAN ST. LONDON W.

Inscription: To the Glory of God and in memory of Neville Beard who died September 20th 1907. This window was dedicated by his widow.

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1. Jenkins, S. England's Thousand Best Churches; 1999. p106
2. Report in Graphic - Saturday 06 September 1873: p5.
3. Derby Daily Telegraph - Thursday 28 January 1932 : p7.
4. Marks, R. Stained Glass in England During the Middle Ages. 1993: p139-140.
5. Death of dedicatee: Ashbourne Telegraph - Friday 27 September 1907
6. Dedication of window: Uttoxeter Advertiser and Ashbourne Times - Wednesday 22 December 1909