Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

St Michael's and All Angels, Barnes, from the north east. 2024.

St Michael's and All Angels, Barnes. 2024.

Posted 21 October 2024.

St Michael and All Angels was designed by the London Architect Charles Innes, FRIBA (1825-1907). Although his work was predominantly focused on commercial and high value residential property, Innes was a High Church Tractarian, and as a congregant at the Mission Church which preceded the present building, it was fitting that he be commissioned to replace it. He was churchwarden at St Michael's for many years. This is Innes's only complete church still standing. His earlier restoration projects in London at St Mildred's, Bread Street was destroyed by bombing in World War Two, and St Mary le Bow was gutted by fire and later completely restored. His work at nearby St Mary's, Barnes, was also destroyed by fire in 1978. He also remodelled Wren's church of St Mary, Aldermary, but this was also severely damaged during the blitz and it is not certain what, if any, of Innes's work remains.¹

In an 1999 opinion piece, architects Molyneux Kerr suggested that Charles Innes had returned to the earliest Christian churches for his inspiration, by basing his plans for St Michael's and All Angels on that of a Roman Basilica, albeit replacing a Romanesque style with high Victorian Gothic.² The church magazine of January 1891 announced that Innes intended to follow "the ancient basilica model".³ This is much in evidence. The church has a wide, tall nave with north and south aisles, as one might expect for a gothic revival church, but what sets St Michael's apart from coeval designs of his contemporaries are the apsidal features of the sanctuary, north chapel and western baptistery. However, Innes clearly took inspiration from churches nearer to home as well. Rhodri Walters in his pamphlet describing Innes's work at St Michael's suggests that the Rector, the Rev Lewis Lochée (incumbent from 1885 to 1891) had encouraged Innes to visit St Barnabas, Jericho, in Oxford and incorporate features of that church in his designs, though he is also likely to have taken inspiration from the London churches of G E Street, especially in the use of polychrome brick and Bath stone (cf St James the Less, Thorndike Street, Westminster). One element which was never executed was the large Italianate tower. Perhaps this was a blessing. The architect's drawing of 1891 showed a heavy, tall square edifice with a pyramidal roof which would have been completely out of keeping.

What we see today is testament to High Church, Gothic Revival sentiment, with a sprinkling of 12th century Western European Romanesque. The church was consecrated in 1893, but works continued until 1898.

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All the stained glass windows except the plain ones in the clearstory are from the Percy Bacon Studio. Although it is not clear whether Charles Innes had any influence in the designs or subject matter in the windows, if it was Percy Bacon's desire to work in harmony with architects (see transcript of his lecture given to the Northern Architectural Association on 17th January 1894), thereby bringing harmony to church decoration, then St Michael's may be one of the best examples of his attempts to do so. He seems largely to have achieved that harmony at St Michael's..

The windows were installed piecemeal over a number of years, commencing in 1894 with the three large sanctuary apse lancets. Many are memorials to members of the Kitson and Rooke families. All the windows, apart from those in the north transept are single lancets. Those in the side chapel, baptistery and aisles are relatively small, and only able to accommodate single figures. In all there are twenty eight windows, twenty six single lancets, and two three-light windows in the north transept (triple lancets). Two windows, SA1 and SA2 were moved to the sacristy when a door was inserted in the south wall to connect with the modern community centre, built in 2006. The descriptions below start with the east windows, high up in the sanctuary apse, and continue clockwise around the building, finishing in the north chapel.

High on the wall of the sanctuary are three lancets, larger than the others in the church. These were the first to be installed, not long after the consecration of the church. Reflecting the dedication of the church, they depict:

E1 (north side): St Raphael (pilgrim's gourd and staff)
E2 (centre): St Michael (Cross, shield and dragon at his feet. "Praise Ye Him, All His Angels")
E3 (south side): St Gabriel (Lilies)

The three windows are a memorial to the late curate-in-charge at St Michael's, Rev. W. H. Kitson (died 5th June 1893),⁴ and were unveiled on the evening of 2^nd January 1894. They were dedicated by the Rev H. C. Woodhead, a colleague of Rev Kitson at All Saints Clapton where he had been curate prior to taking up his post at Barnes. The windows were given by parishioners of St Michael's (Raphael), the Rev. Kitson's brother-in-law (Michael), and parishioners of All Saints, Clapton (St Gabriel).⁵

None of the windows are signed.

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In 2006 a new door was inserted in the south aisle to permit access to the proposed community centre adjoining the church. Two windows in that location were removed, installed in the sacristy, and rededicated on the Feast Day of St Michael and All Angels (29 September) 2006 which is noted on a new inscription added to the King David window. Beneath the St Cecilia window the inscription reads:

A brass dedication tablet also made by Percy Bacon is installed on the wall beside the King David window which dedicates the windows to a member of the Rooke family..

1. Walters, R. Charles Innes FRIBA (1825-1907). Architect of St Michael and All Angels, Barnes. Pamphlet in the church.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Report of Rev Kitson's death in The Richmond Herald, 09 June 1893, p8.
5. Richmond Herald, 09 February 1894, p7.