Stained Glass of Percy Bacon

Christ Church, Old Swindon from a postcard of c1905 in the author's collection.

.

Christ Church, Old Swindon from a postcard of c1905 in the author's collection.

With the coming of the Great Western Railway to Swindon it was inevitable that the population would grow considerably, and the old church of Holy Rood was deemed too small and too difficult to modify to do much to accommodate the required number of seats for the congregation. A parcel of land was duly bequeathed by the Goddard family at the top of the hill in Old Swindon. The task of designing a new church fell to George Gilbert Scott who created a typically bulky Gothic Revival edifice in the Early Decorated style. The church itself is unremarkable. Pevsner skips over it dismissively, opining that it is, "Quite big, and externally decidedly without atmosphere".¹

Tenders for a new church were advertised in the local press on 16th February 1848 and the new church was completed and consecrated on 7th November 1851. A week later the Wiltshire Independent published an extremely comprehensive report of the consecration ceremony, with a fine description of the means by which the church came about and the travails which were overcome to complete it.² The report is transcribed on page 2.

Request for tenders for the construction of Christ Church which appeared in The Builder 26 Feb 1848.

Request for tenders for the construction of Christ Church which appeared in the The Builder 26 Feb 1848

Request for tenders for the construction of Christ Church which appeared in The Builder 26 Feb 1848.

St Michael as Justice.

St Michael as Justice.

Faith as Warrior.

Faith as Warrior.

NA1: Justice & Faith.

There is a single window in Christ Church attributed to Percy Bacon; NA1. The window depicting Justice and Faith is a World War 1 memorial to the men of the Wiltshire Regiment and is typical of Bacon's treatment of the subjects during the studio's busy days of the late teens and early twenties of the 20th century. Although very feint, there is the vestige of what might have been Bacon's signature at the bottom right of the Justice window. Justice is pictured as St Michael in golden armour holding the eponymous sword and scales. Above Michael the crests of the town of Swindon and the Wiltshire Regiment and above Faith the crest of the Wiltshire Yeomanry. Both regiments and an individual are remembered in the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of the men of Swindon, the Wiltshire Regiment, and Lieut. Sydney G H Reed 104th Batt M G C [Machine Gun Corps] who died in the service of his country during the Great War 1914 - 1918."

Although the treatment of the figures is typical of the output of Percy Bacon & Brothers, there is, as yet, no conclusive evidence that this window is by that studio. A window of 1903 to the left of this one (NA2) depicting St Patrick and St George has some similarities of style. However this window is by Bell of Bristol.³

Click on the image to start a slide show.

Back to top.

1. Pevsner, N. Buildings of England, Wiltshire, 1963.
2. Wiltshire Independent. 13th November 1851.
3. Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle - Friday 06 November 1903, p7.