Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

The previous entry on this website was built from some rather sub-par, and incomplete images I had obtained in 2009, well before this project had properly started. In August 2023 I was lucky enough to be able to revisit St Mary's, where I was warmly welcomed by the Kings Lynn branch of the Church Recording Society who were busy documenting the contents of the church. It was a great pleasure to join in with their important work of researching and documenting the historical heritage of St Mary's, and I am indebted to them for assisting with this entry. In particular we were able to confirm some details of the cost of the Percy Bacon windows from receipts held by the church and their dates of installation. Further information came to light in the autumn of 2023 when the Norfolk CRS found intricate scale drawings of the reredos and font cover by William Searle Hicks of the architectural firm of Hicks and Charlewood of Newcastle.

Skip to the page describing the font cover and reredos at St Mary's.

East window, 1899. Incarnation of Our Lord.
Use the mouse wheel to zoom, click to drag and explore the window.

East Window; 1899.

East Window; Ascension.

East Window; Isaiah, Jeremiah, St John the Baptist and St Simeon. Simeon holds a book with the words, "Nunc Dimittis Domine" indicating the this simeon is the priest who received Mary and Jesus in the Temple.

East Window; St Paul, St Peter, Ezekiel and Daniel.

East Window; Crucifixion Scene.

East Window; Annunciation to the Virgin.

East Window; Three Maries at the empty tomb.

East Window; Tracery: Christ Enthroned.

East Window; Tracery: Alpha Symbol.

East Window; Tracery: Omega Symbol.

East Window; Tracery: Angel with incensor.

East Window; Tracery: Angel with incensor.

Receipt dated 16th November 1899 for payment from Percy Bacon to Messrs Hicks and Charlewood, in the value of £400 for the execution of the east window.
Photo courtesy of Pat Bray, Kings Lynn Church Recorders.

East Window; Composite image of the base of the lights, with inscription from the Te Deum. Photos courtesy of Nick Thursfield, King’s Lynn Church Recorders Society.

Posted 30 August 2023.

Between 1897 and 1899 St Mary's was undergoing a significant internal restoration at a reported cost of £2,000,¹ under the supervision of the Newcastle architectural firm of Hicks and Charlewood. The works, which (it was suggested by Barnes-though whether his contention is correct is moot) swept away much of an earlier restoration of 1877 by Frederick Preedy,² included a new marble floor to the chancel, a carved chancel screen, new panels to the chancel walls, clergy stalls, new lamps and an elaborate carved and painted font cover by Ralph Hedley of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.³ Percy Bacon and Brothers was commissioned to provided three new stained glass windows during the restoration; the east, and two in the north of the chancel.⁴ A new carved oak reredos were also commissioned, executed by Ralph Hedley, with panels painted by Percy Bacon,⁵ though the exact date of this work is not fully certain. Hedley also executed the carved figures for the altar, additional seating, and seat embellishments amongst other items.⁶

The east window is of five lights with tracery and represents the Doctrine of the Incarnation and communion of saints. Taking advantage of the tall lights, Bacon splits the window in two, filling the non figurative parts of the lights with his trademark complex architectonic devices in white glass with yellow stain. In the upper portion, the centre light depicts the Ascension, beneath which kneeling angels hold a scroll containing the words, "I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32). The lights to left and right of this scene are filled with the standing figures of prophets and saints:

Leftmost: Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Centre Left: St John the Baptist and St Simeon.
Centre Right: St Paul and St Peter.
Rightmost: Ezekiel and Daniel.

At the top of the four outer lights golden winged demi-angels hold scrolls with the words: "Blessing us", "honour", "Glory", and "Power".

In the lower portion of the window, the centre light depicts the crucifixion with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John Evangelist flanking the cross in their normal positions. Each pair of two left and two right lights are used to illustrate;

Left: Annunciation to the Virgin.
Right: Three Maries at the empty tomb.

In the tracery:

Top centre: Christ enthroned, surrounded by cherubim, and flanked by kneeling angels.
Lower centre: Two lights with angels holding shields with Alpha and Omega symbols.
Bottom tracery: Trefoil lights with angels swinging incensors.

At the base of the window, obscured by the reredos, the following from the Te Deum is inscribed:

Left two lights: "When thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man | Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb".
Centre Light: "When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death".
Right two lights: "Thou didst open the Kingdom | of Heaven to all believers".

Looking from the right hand side of the reredos, the signature, "Percy Bacon, London" is just visible in the bottom right corner.

The window cost £400,⁷ equivalent to over £42,000 in today's money.⁸

Percy Bacon had also worked with Hicks and Charlewood at St Michael & All Angels, Newburn, Tyne and Wear in 1897, and would do so again again (and perhaps most notably) for Hick's Magnus Opus of 1903, St Chad's, Bensham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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1. The Builder's Journal and Architectural Engineer, 10 May 1899. p210. Norfolk News - Saturday 29 April 1899, p10.
2. Barnes, Gordon. Frederick Preedy, Vale of Evesham Historical Society, 1984. p31.
3. The Builder 6th May 1899: Vol 76 Iss 2935, p451.
4. Norfolk News 09 Dec 1899 p14.
5. Invoice from Ralph Hedley to Messrs Hicks and Charlewood dated 2nd May 1899.
6. Ibid.
7. Receipt for payment Receipt dated 16th November 1899 for payment from Percy Bacon to Messrs Hicks and Charlewood, in the value of £400 for the execution of the east window.
   Photo courtesy of Pat Bray, Kings Lynn Church Recorders. from Percy Bacon to Messrs Hicks and Charlewood.
8. Bank of England Inflation Calculator.