Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Architect's sketch circa 1870.

Architect's design for St Clement's Church, Boscombe.
The Building News 03 October 1976. PD Image.

Posted 22 August 2024.

St Clement's was built between 1871 and 1873 to designs by John D Sedding, one of his first major church commissions. It was not until October 1871 that the parish of St Clement's existed, created to serve the rapidly growing population of what was becoming a desirable watering-hole for the expanding middle classes. Funds were quickly raised, Mr Edmund Christy coming forward with £30,000, an enormous sum which in today's money would be approaching £3m. Mr Christy also provided sufficient to pay for a living amounting to £283 per annum,¹ and funded the vicarage next door.² The church consisted of a nave, chancel (of the same width) with a lady chapel on its north side, and a sacristy and choir vestry on its south. The porch was on the north west side and a covered walkway extended towards the vicarage to the south. It was not until 1893, two years after Sedding's death that the tower was completed, albeit to a simpler design than he had originally envisaged. This required an additional £3,700 which Charles Seymour Towle, the incumbent from January 1892 spent the first two years of his minstry coaxing from his flock.³ Much of that fabric appears to be in place today.

Back to top

Percy Bacon & Brothers designed a scheme of four windows for the north aisle in 1912/13. In the event, only three were executed. All the window apertures are identical, and the execution of the designs is clearly a unified theme. As I have not yet been able to visit St Clement's, the following photographs are by Alwyn Ladell. My thanks to him for posting these images on Flickr and making them available under a Creative Commons license; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.⁴ See below for a link to Alwyn's images of St Clement's..

North Aisle 2: Behold the Lamb of God: Moses and Aaron. Manna from heaven and the blessed sacrament.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

North Aisle 2: Exodus ch16: Manna from heaven.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

This window illustrates the story in Exodus, Ch16, when the Israelites were grumbling to Moses and Aaron about having been led from Egypt where food was plentiful, into a desert where starvation was lurking. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'I will rain down bread from heaven for you". (Exodus 16:4). These words are on the scroll above the standing figure of Aaron in the left light. In the right light is the figure of Moses, and above him a scroll bearing the words from John 6:51 quoting Jesus addressing the grumbling Israelites of his own time, equating the manna from heaven of their ancestors with the metaphorical "living" bread that will give eternal life; "The bread I will give is my flesh", perhaps foretelling his crucifixion. In the centre light, and bringing all together, a representation of the holy grail, symbolic of the blessed sacrament. In the background behind the main figures appears men and women in the act of collecting manna. The three main lights are framed in the typical elaborate niches so common in Percy Bacon's work, with a great deal of white glass.

In the lower tracery the words from John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God". in the central tracery are two quatrefoil openings with eagles surrounded by vine leaves, and in the very top a representation of a pelican in its piety.

The window was donated by Mrs Leonie Oldham under terms in her will, and is dedicated as a memorial to her husband, daughter and herself.

The window is unsigned.

Back to top

North Aisle 3: Sin and Sacrifice: Prevailing over sin and death.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

North Aisle 3: Prevailing over sin and death.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

In a similar vain to north aisle 2, this window illustrates connections between stories told in the Old Testament and prophecies fulfilled in the New; of Moses and the serpents in Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:1-21: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14), the second part of the verse being included on a scroll in the lower tracery. In the central light is a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus, the cross seemingly sprouting from a living vine tree which spreads outwards across the three lights, a reference to Christ being the "true vine" (John 15:1). At the base of the cross Moses holds a serpent, while above him a serpent winds around the trunk of the vine. In the background people look on and pray (Numbers 21). In the left light is a depiction of Moses with the Israelites being bitten by snakes, and the words on a scroll from Genesis 3:; "[And I] will put enmity between thee and the woman". In the right light is a depiction of (presumably) Isaiah the priest and prophet and the words from Isaiah 52:5, "with his stripes we are healed". In this case it seems "stripes" means "wounds", and refers to the wounds inflicted on Christ at his crucifixion.

In the tracery quatrefoil openings IHS and XPC christograms, and at the very top the Agnes Dei.

Ultimately the symbolism in this window is highly unusual, confusing, and difficult to fully understand. The intention would seem to have been to draw together some stories in the Old Testament which prophesied events in the New which deal with sin and sacrifice. The Israelites of Moses's time being punished for the sin of complaining and then redeemed by God's grace (the serpent on the pole being their redemption). Jesus is portrayed as sacrificing himself on the cross, taking the punishment sinners deserved, and in doing so overcoming the snake and death. Whether this interpretation is correct or not, it is clear that a great deal of thought and understanding of the Bible went into the design of these windows.

The window was dedicated to the memory of J. C. Harvey, churchwarden, 1899 - 1909, and his wife.

The window is unsigned.

Back to top

North Aisle 4: Christ the Consoler: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

North Aisle 4: Joshua, Christ Consoler, Hebrew Priests.
Photo courtesy of Alwyn Ladell. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

The central theme of this window is "Fear the Lord your God for ever", the words appearing on the scrolls in the lower tracery. In the central light is a representation of Christ the Consoler, the figure seeming to float against a vine tree which, like its neighbour, extends across the three lights. At the base of the central light a representation of the Ark of the Covenant. In the left light stands the figure of a warrior in Phrygian dress warrior (probably Joshua who continued to lead the Israelites after Moses). He holds a spear and shield, while behind him can be seen the multitude he leads. In the right light stand two unnamed Hebrew Priests. Above the figures on scrolls; "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me" (John 14:6). In the quatrefoil tracery lights, cherubim surrounded by vine leaves, and at the very top a representation of Noah's Ark.

The window was dedicated to Charles Hodges, JP, churchwarden who died 18 March 1932. The dedication panel at the bottom left must have been a later insertion, being after the firm of Percy Bacon Limited had virtually ceased production.

The window is unsigned

Back to top

1. St Clement's, Bournemouth, 1873-1973: Centenary History by Malcolm Thorning, p9..
2. The Building News 03 October 1976, p336.
3. St Clement's, Bournemouth, 1873-1973: Centenary History by Malcolm Thorning, p11.
4. For all of Alwyn Ladell's photos of St Clement's, see his Flickr page.