Stained Glass of Percy Bacon

East Window. Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and click/drag to explore the window.

East Window; 1927. Christ Saviour and host of saints.

East Window; Top Row far left: St Agnes with her symbol - a lamb.

East Window; Top Row middle left: St Luke (the physician) holding a flaming caduceus - the symbol of medicine.

East Window; Top Row middle right: St Laurence who holds a model of the eponymous church.

East Window; Top Row far right: Martha of Bethany portrayed as a housekeeper.

East Window; Btm Row far left: St Peter.

East Window; Btm Row middle left: St Alban.

East Window; Btm Row middle right: St Cedd as Bishop of the East Saxons. He holds a model of the original church he is said to have founded at Upminster.

East Window; Btm Row far right: St Paul.

Posted 26 August 2023.

The east window was installed in 1928 or 1929 when the chancel was extended and south aisle added. It is in memory of a local JP, John Storrs Brookfield, and his yo und daughter, Ethel Blanche. In the centre stands Christ the King, arm aloft in benediction. He holds a book on which the words, "BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHOM DIE IN THE LORD". Beneath Christ, The Lamb of God stands on a chest with seven seals, in a nod to Revelation 5-8. Bacon used this device in the east window of St Andrew's, Boscombe, Dorset, and may have been inspired by Jan Van Eyck's large polyptych altarpiece in St Bravo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb", also known as the Ghent Altarpiece, painted in 1432. Beneath the lamb, two angels kneel by a glowing chalice, representing the Holy Grail. Surrounding Christ are eight saints:

Top row: St Agnes, St Luke, St Laurence, St Martha (of Bethany)

Btm row: St Peter, St Alban, St Cedd & St Paul

St Cedd, is said to have been the founder of St Laurence's Church in Upminster.²

The window is unsigned.

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Image Note: The colours in these photographs does not correctly reflect the glass colours due to there being internal spotlights in the chancel aimed at the window.

SCh4: St George and St Michael. Memorial to Lt George Story, RE (d. 1917).

St George.

St George - detail.

St Michael.

St Michael - detail.

South Chapel 4: St George and St Michael.

Posted 26 August 2023.

Simple 2-light window low down in the south chapel, installed circa 1929,³ depicting the standing figures of St George and St Michael in characteristic poses. The south chapel and aisle was added in 1928/29. These figures are certainly not the work of Percy Bacon himself, and could have been by another studio entirely. The BSMP Directory of 1930 seems to confirm these lights are from the Bacon Studio, and Robert Eberhard's website Church Stained Glass Records, also mentions Faculty D/CF 68/71.

The window is a World War One memorial dedicated on a to Lt George Ernest Story, Royal Engineers, a member of the British Expeditionary Force, who died on active service 8th September 1917, aged 57, a rather unusual age for a soldier.

The window is unsigned

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1. British Society of Master Glass Painters Directory, 1930.
2. Church of St Laurence, Upminster, website.
3. Church Stained Glass Records; BSMGP Directory 1930; Faculty D/CF 68/71.
4. For more history of St Laurence Church, Upminster see Tony Benton's Upminster History Site. The website has some images taken during the extension works in 1928/29.