Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers
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- Lost Work
Evesham Bell Tower, all that remains of the Abbey
The church of All Saints was founded by Evesham Abbey in the early 13th century to serve as a parish church for the growing population of the town. By this time the Abbey was one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in the country and spectacularly wealthy. All Saints, along with it's sister church St Lawrence stood wholly within the walls of the abbey. St Lawrence is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, and sadly often locked. To begin with All Saints would have been a simple chapel with nave and chancel. Over the succeeding centuries the aisles, transepts, chapels and tower were added. By 1379 the church had six chaplains and six clerks all provided by the abbey. The abbey was eventually surrendered to Henry VIII in 1540, one of the latest of such handovers. Little of the abbey now remains above ground except the bell tower built between 1531 and 1539 by Abbot Clement Lichfield. Lichfield also built the south chapel in All Saints (now known as the Lichfield Chapel, but originally dedicated to St Clement), perhaps the finest piece of architecture in the church with it's fan vaulted ceiling. Lichfield is commemorated in stained glass in that chapel executed by Powell & Sons in 1882.
A major restoration by Frederick Preedy took place between 1873 and 1876, who also executed a good many of the stained glass windows at the same time. Before this restoration the floor had been a mass of jumbled memorial stones, and box pews described by a local historian, George May as, "..[a] wasteful arrangement of the high, deep and unsightly pews". All was taken up and removed, the floor concreted over and neat rows of mostly free benches installed. At the time of writing, even these benches have been removed and the nave is now a clear and flexible space used for many community events and not just religious services, a happy circumstance that should be applauded.
There is an extremely good guidebook available to purchase in the church, written by a local historian, Stan Brotherton. There are four Bacon windows in All Saints illustrated below. The other glass in the church is very good and includes works by Powells, Preedy, Shrigley and Hunt and a rare piece (at least in England) by Jean-Baptiste Carponnier.
This window of 1909 depicts St Oswald (c604 - 642), King of Northumbria, and St Wilfrid (c633-710), founder of Hexham Abbey. The treatment of the figures is classic Percy Bacon. Oswald crowned holds a crossed staff and guilded book, while Wilfrid who is depicted as an old man and Bishop holds a crozier and a model of Hexham Abbey. Both stand on pedestals in wide columned ornate niches with elaborate canopies in white glass enlivened with yellow stain. In the top cinqfoil opening is a reset fragment of medieval glass, possibly 14th century with an image of Christ in Majesty. Before Preedy's restoration, this was in the north chapel's north window1 a very large window filled with glass by Jean-Baptiste Carponnier in 1882.
The inclusion of two northern saints, one of whom has little if any connection with Evesham is strange. Wilfrid's association with Evesham is better established, but still tenuous, and he is only just contemporaneous with Oswald who died when he was just 19. He was a Northumbrian noble who entered holy orders at Lindesfarne initially, and was known for his connections to many monasteries in England, including Mercia in which Evesham would have belonged. He is credited with the introduction of the Rule of St Benedict to many English monasteries, including Evesham.
There is no dedication. The window is signed "PERCY BACON BROS"..
Also installed in 1909 and following the same stylistic arrangement as the other north aisle window, this depicts St Andrew, the Old testament character Ruth, and St James the Great as pilgrim. St Andrew holds the saltire cross of his crucifixion; Ruth holds a sickle and wheat sheaf-a reference to Ruth Ch2, and St James carries a pilgrim's staff and the scallop shell motif on his hat. In the tracery angels play a horn and lyre. The window is unsigned.
The window is dedicated to Mary Wroe and A. F. Walker DD. Two other names appear right and left respectively; Arthur Wroe Roberts and James Doherty, though it is unclear whether these are also remembered or are the donors.
The window is unsigned.
In a rather unusual position, high up on the west wall of the nave and either side of the arch leading to the west porch are two small single light windows which are easily missed. A good telephoto lens (or binoculars) is required to get a good look at these. Mirroring these two windows are their counterparts on the east wall of the nave either side of the chancel arch. These latter two are by Shrigley and Hunt.
Also installed in 1909 these windows depict the single figures of St Agnes and King Alfred. There is little room for the usual extravagant niches so these windows are simply frames in narrow quarries.
Neither window is signed.
References: Use your browser's Back button to return to text.
- Cox, D. C. Evesham Abbey and the parish churches : a guide, 1980, p21
Location Map:
Sat Nav Post Code: WR11 4RW