Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

St Mary Magdalene, Ripley, Surrey:
The Cyclists Window (Dibble Mmorial).

St Lucy.

St Anne.

St Catherine.

St Lucy.

St Anne.

St Catherine.

The Cyclists' Window; 1896: A memorial to Annie and Harriet Dibble.
Ss Lucy, Anne and Catherine

St Mary Magdalene is branded in the church guide as "The Parish Church of Cycling" for its connection with the emergence of the sport of cycle racing in the 1870's. The Percy Bacon & Brothers window of 1896 appears on the front of the guide and is titled, "The Cyclists' Window".

Ripley was a frequent destination for London cyclists, and The Anchor pub their favourite watering hole. Herbert Liddel Cortis, the first man to cover 20 miles within an hour riding an "Invincible 60 incher" [Penny Farthing] is commemorated in another window high on the east wall of the south aisle at Ripley, which was placed there after his early death in 1885 by his, "...private and personal friends."¹

The three light window with tracery in the south aisle (SA3) depicts female saints; Lucy (Lucia of Syracuse), St Anne and St Catherine. The panel depicting St Catherine was stolen in 1991 and a replica produced with the help of photographs and by colour matching. The short church guide does not name the artist or workshop, but they have done an excellent job at recreating the Percy Bacon style. Lucia of Syracuse (3rd-4th century) is often portrayed with her emblem of her holding a dish on which rest two eyes signifying her being devoted as the protector of sight, and the post 15th century hagiographies relating her torture by eye-gouging during the Diocletian Persecutions. Perhaps late Victorian or the donors sensibilities would not permit such a barbaric symbol, so here she holds an oil lamp.

The window is dedicated to Anne (Annie) and Harriet Dibble. Harriet Dibble was the innkeeper at the Anchor pub, and Annie her sister. A brass plate below the window declares that it was, "erected by their cycling friends", no doubt a fitting tribute to the services they had provided their thirsty clientele. The window had been commissioned and completed by June of 1896 and was on display in Percy Bacon's workshop during much of that year. It was not unveiled in the church until December. The original intention had been to dedicate the window in memory of Anne Dibble. However, the original date for the unveiling of 24th July (the date of Annie's death) which had been chosen by Harriet was postponed after news that she was dangerously ill².

The window is unsigned.

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1. Cycling by Viscount Bury, 1887; p105
2. Cycling - Saturday 09 January 1897, p38