Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Tower West, 1906. Ruth and Naomi

Ruth, who holds a sickle and wheatsheaf. Naomi. Top tracery. Angel at the top of the left light. Angel at the top of the right light. Signature panel.
West Tower: Ruth and Naomi. 1906.

Posted 13 March 2023.

There is a single Percy Bacon & Brothers window in St Mary's, in the west of the tower. The subjects are Ruth and Naomi. The window was inserted in 1906 and replaced an earlier, smaller window.¹ A rudimentary drawing housed in the Northumberland Archive includes the names under the figures, but these were omitted in the window's final execution. The dedication inscription reads:

The window was unveiled at a dedication ceremony on 9^th September 1906.² Curiously, the Alnwick Guardian and County Advertiser reported that the whole cost of the window was borne by Dr. Walker as a memorial to his late wife.³ However, the dedication refers to Dr. Walker himself, so it may have been added at a later date.

The designs were reused with modifications at St Andrew, Boscombe, Dorset in 1910, and that of Ruth at All Saints, Evesham, Worcestershire in 1909.

The window is signed.

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1. Northumberland Archive reference DN/E/8/2/2/287. Faculty papers relating to a stained glass window and the increase of the height of the window in Wooler parish church, Northumberland. Includes 3 plans and 1 drawing. Percy Bacon & Brothers, London on drawing. Chas. R. Baker King, architect, London on plans.
2. Alnwick Guardian and County Advertiser - Saturday 15 September 1906, p8.
3. Ibid.