Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Drawing of the proposed church of All Saints, Plymouth, 1873, to the design of James Hine, Architect.
Published in The Builder, 18th April 1874

All Saints Church, circa 1960s.

Drawing of the proposed church of All Saints, Plymouth, 1873.
Featured in The Builder 18th April 1874.

Posted 28 July 2023.

As a result of the growing population of Plymouth in the mid-19th century, and with it the need for additional church space, Dr Frederick Temple, the Bishop of Exeter, initiated the building of four additional churches in his diocese. One of these, and the first to be built was All Saints, whose parish was carved out of that of St Peter’s. The initial design by James Hine (1829-1914), a local architect, was for a large church in Early English style with nave (80ft x 28ft), polygonal chancel, north and south aisles, and a prominent tower on the south west corner, providing seating for 700 souls, and costing an estimated £5,000.¹ The walls would be of wrought limestone, dark and light, with dressings of Box-ground and Portland Stone.² A curious addition would be the octagonal Priest’s Vestry tacked on to the south east corner. The location chosen for the church was a triangular parcel of land bounded by Harwell Street, Hastings Street and Hastings Terrace. Building works began at the end of 1873 under the direction of the “Three Towns Church Extension Society”, but as with many grand visions conceived by Gothic Revivalist architects, the funds to build such a grand edifice were severely lacking, despite their earnest request, and it was not the only church in the vicinity to suffer that indignity.

In the first instance, only the chancel of All Saints was completed, the nave being constructed in a temporary manner of wood. It was this partially completed structure that was consecrated by the Bishop of Exeter on 12th November 1874. T. Edwards, a correspondent to the Western Daily Mercury lamented the lack of completion:

Plan of the proposed church of All Saints, Plymouth, 1873, to the design of James Hine, Architect.
Published in The Builder, 18th April 1874

Plan of James Hine's design for All Saints, 1873.

Mr Edwards would have a long wait! Building of the nave and aisles began in 1878, but the walls were only built to the height of the aisles.

This postcard shows the partially completed church viewed from the south west from Harwell Street. The chancel and choir vestry roofs were complete to their full heights, but the nave clerestorey had yet to be built. A temporary roof was installed over the nave until it was finally completed in 1910.

This was provided with a temporary roof. The church was finally completed in 1910 under the supervision of James Hine’s colleague, architect M. W. May,⁴ but (as is often the case when funds are lacking) minus the splendid tower and spire which were never built. On the morning of Sunday 4th December 1910 a fire broke out in the organ chamber shortly after the congregation had left. It quickly spread to the choir and choir vestry and the altar was wreaked, the chancel being “burnt through”.⁵ The quick actions of the fire brigade prevented any further spread of the flames. No report has yet been uncovered describing the condition of the Percy Bacon stained glass in the apse windows following the fire.

In addition to the church, a rather unusual arts and crafts style vicarage,
The arts and crafts style Clergy House built on the north corner of the plot.
Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/1777423 or "Clergy House" designed by John. D. Sedding⁶ was built in 1887 on the north corner of the plot, and a school room on Hastings Street both of which are still in situ, though much altered. A photo from circa 1960 shows the clergy house in relation to the church.

The church emerged relatively unscathed from the Second World War, and continued to serve the parish until the 1980s when it was closed due to a dwindling congregation. The church was demolished in 1985, and the site is now occupied by modern housing.

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Interior of All Saints looking east towards the chancel. The image was taken circa 1922 and shows in situ glass in the apse windows. Unfortunately it cannot be determined whether this is the Percy Bacon Glass.

Interior of All Saints, circa 1922..

The Percy Bacon Stained Glass in All Saints (1894).

Four Bacon Studios lights occupied the apse windows. These were installed in 1894 and are some of the studio’s earliest works. They represented saints of some of the guilds of the parish, but which saints has not been established. The Builder article of 20th Jan 1894 reported:

“The figures are very large, standing upon simple bases and under canopies with quarry work at top and bottom. They are the gift of the vicar, Rev. C. R. Chase, and were executed by Messrs. Percy Bacon Brothers, of London, after suggestions by Mr. Edmund Sedding, architect, of Plymouth”.⁷ Edmund Sedding was John D. Sedding's elder brother who designed the vicarage.

It is unclear if the windows were damaged by the fire in 1910, and their fate is as yet unknown.

It is worth noting here that the vicar of St Peter's who made the appeal for funds on behalf of the Three Town Church Extension Society was George Rundle Prynne, father of George Fellowes-Prynne, the architect. Percy Bacon would go on to enjoy a lasting relationship with Fellowes-Prynne, executing many windows for him in his new and restored churches. The first known collaboration between Bacon and George Fellowes-Prynne was at St James the Great, East Anthony, Cornwall in June 1895.

At least some of the stained glass was recovered by the London Stained Glass Repository when the church was demolished in 1985. Two windows depicting the Venerable Bede and Joan of Arc by Luke Dampney and dating from 1920, were eventually installed in the American School, Regent's Park, as a memorial to two of its students who were killed in the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988.⁸

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1. Handbook to Plymouth, 1879.
2. The Builder, Vol 32, 18 April 1874, p328.
3. Western Daily Mercury, Wednesday 11th November 1874, p4.
4. https://someolddevonchurches.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/all-saints-church-plymouth/
5. Western Times, 6th December 1910, p8.
6. Historic England website entry for All Saints Vicarage.
7. The Builder Vol 66 20 Jan 1894, p59.
8. Illustrated London News - Sunday 01 November 1992, p9.