The Corpus of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Even on a dull overcast day the pretty little church of All Saints exudes charm. It is accessed from the road through what appears to be a garden gate built into a high wall which extends, embattled, joining the tower at its north west corner. In the wall near the tower is another gate which leads to the garden of Wytham House next door, and the whole arrangement gives the impression of a private church within a private garden. The then owner of Wytham House, Montague Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon largely rebuilt the church in 1812.

All Saints Church, Wytham, Oxfordshire

There is a single window, NA1, by Percy Bacon and Brothers in All Saints. Installed in 1912 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the rebuilding of the church, it depicts the risen Christ appearing to a haloed Mary Magdalene. The scene is spread over the two lights forming a unified scene, with the unusually narrow pillars and somewhat (at least for a Bacon work) restrained canopy framing both. In the background the walls of Jerusalem are drawn in black enamel but bathed in a dull blue reflecting the cloudy sky. In Bacon's typical style the sky, though cloudy, is rendered in rectilinear blocks of darkened blue. At the base there is a scroll held at each end by a kneeling angel with an inscription in Latin, which reads; "Giving thanks for the church which was rebuilt one hundred years ago, this window is placed here by the people of Wytham, December AD MDCCCCXII".

NA1: Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, 1912.

NA1: Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, 1912.

NA1: Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, 1912.

1. Window dedication service reported in Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette - Friday 20 December 1912. p8.