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Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Scremerston, St Peter.
Northumberland
North Nave West: St John the Baptist and baptism scene. Circa 1895.

Nave West North, St John the Baptist, circa 1894.



Posted 13 March 2023.

There is a single window by Percy Bacon & Brothers in St Peter's, a narrow lancet in the north west corner of the nave. In typical early Bacon style, the main character, St John the Baptist stands within an elaborate niche, at the top of which two kneeling angels hold a shield with at Agnus Dei. In the predella is a scene depicting the Baptism of Christ. The window is undated but the presence of the Three Bees Rebus suggests it was installed prior to 1896 when the Bacon studios switched to using the Bacon Coat of arms, and possibly as early as 1894 (see below). The tablet below the window which is also likely to have been made by the Bacon Studio reads:

In memory of Major Robert Johnson who died A.D. 1844. This window is bequeathed by Thomas Johnson of Scremerston.

There were likely two more windows in St Peter's by the Bacon Studio, but these are no longer extant, and their whearabouts or fate is not known. A catalogue entry at the Northumberland Archive with a watercolour suggests the windows depicted the BVM and child, and Christ the Consoler.1 In the south of the nave is another dedication tablet engraved in the same style, and the same lettering as the one mentioned above which commemorates Thomas Johnson who died in 1894. It is possible this is the same Thomas Johnson who bequeathed the St John window, and the tablet indicative of the location of the lost windows. This would also date the illustrated window. The Northumberland Archive entry is dated 24 March 1911. However, it is unclear what this date relates to.

            

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References: Use your browser's Back button to return to text.

  1. Northumberland Archive reference No. DN/E/8/2/2/397.

 

Location Map:

NGR: NU 00677 49290
Sat Nav Post Code: TD15 2RA

All text and photos © Alan Spencer, except where otherwise stated; All Rights Reserved