Stained Glass of Percy Bacon

NA1: Madonna & Child. 1911.

North Aisle 1: Madonna and Child. 1911.

North Aisle 1: Madonna and Child. 1911.

Posted 08 July 2023.

This is a three-light window consisting of lancet openings with cinquefoil cusps in the head but without tracery. Like the south aisle window illustrated below (Christ Consoler), only the central aperture contains stained glass, the outer two being of plain diamond quarries.

The window depicts the standing figure of the Madonna and Child and is dedicated in window;

Below the pedestal on which the figure stands, the words read, "Unto us a child is born". The window is undated and unsigned..

The Church Stained Glass Records website stylistically attributes this window to Percy Bacon. However, the style of the artwork, the elaborate architectonic niche, similarity with other Bacon works and the capital "S" in the dedication panel, makes this a very safe attribution. The painting is very similar to the central light in the North Chapel East window in St Andrew's Boscombe executed in the previous year, a confirmed work by Percy Bacon.

Emma Rawlins had been the mistress of the Infant School in Harting for over 34 years. At the time of her death she was living at Wilton near Salisbury.¹

The window is unsigned.

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SA3: Christ Consoler 1921.

South Aisle 3: Memorial to Capt. Jack Wild, 1921.

South Aisle 3: Memorial to Capt. Jack Wild, 1921.

Posted 08 July 2023.

This is a three-light window consisting of lancet openings with cinquefoil cusps in the head but without tracery. Like the north aisle window illustrated above, only the central aperture contains stained glass, the outer two being of plain diamond quarries. Whether this was deliberate or the window is incomplete is moot. The window is quite difficult to see, and even more difficult to photograph, being heavily obscured by the large organ which occupies the space in front. The narrow corridor formed by the organ and the south wall is now used as a vestry.

The window depicts the standing figure of Christ the Consoler and is a memorial to a soldier, dedicated in window;

In a scroll above the figure, the words read, "Come unto me all ye that labour, and I will give you rest.

An article published in the Bognor Regis Observer in July 1921, reports the dedication of this window and the one adjacent (see below).² Captain Wild of the 4th "Buffs" (East Kent Regiment) survived the first world war and was commissioned in the field in 1915.^{3, 4} He later joined the regular army and was posted to Lahore, India in 1919 where he died shortly after arrival.

The window is unsigned.

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SA2: Saint George, 1921.

South Aisle 2. Saint George, 1921

South Aisle 2. Saint George, 1921.

Posted 08 July 2023.

South aisle 2 is an unusually tall lancet, somewhat out of keeping with the other windows in the
north and south aisles. It was installed at the same time as SA3.

The window depicts the standing figure of Saint George in classic pose, with his St George Cross emblazoned shield held high. The dedicated in window reads;

In a garter above the figure are words more often used by Percy Bacon in his war memorial designs; "I have fought the good fight". Elizabeth Gordorn died in Penzance. She had been married to the Rev H. D. Gordon, prebendary of Chichester Cathedral and vicar of Harting for 33 years. She was the author of a number of works including, "The Life of Dean Buckland", "Prehistoric London", and "Saint George". It is likely the latter work informed the choice of subject for the window.⁵

The window is unsigned.

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1. West Sussex Gazette - 6th January 1910, p5. Report of the death of Miss Emma Rawlins.
2. Bognor Regis Observer, 31st July 1921, p7.
3. West Sussex Gazette - 9th December 1915, p6.
4. Imperial War Museum online record for Captain Jack Douglas Wild.
5. Cornishman, 2nd April 1919, p8. Report of the death at Penzance of Elizabeth Oke Gordon.