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Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Lost Work

Posted 22 November 2022: Latest update: May 2025.

By its very nature stained glass is fragile. Inevitably over time, in the case of lost windows (and in the majority of cases) they succumb to more spectacular insults than merely their fragility, or degradation from neglect. Many extant windows in England made in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries attest to their longevity if well cared for. This of course extends to other works, not just stained glass, such as reredos, furnishing and church decoration, all of which were manufactured by Percy Bacon Brothers. The reasons for loss are manifold, but most of the firm's lost works listed here are as a result of the closure of a church and its demolition, or due to enemy bombing during the two world wars. A few succumbed to fire. It is estimated that between 1960 and 1982 over 1,000 Anglican churches were declared redundant, and large quantities of stained glass were ripped out, much being lost forever.1

The following is a list of windows created by Percy Bacon Brothers which are known to have been lost, or, in some cases, relocated. The list is in alphabetical order by town name, or in the case of London, the name of the borough. Where a window has been included in the main menus and gazetteer, links are provided. The list is not comprehensive and will be updated as other lost works come to light.
Note: U/K=Unknown.

Town/City/Borough
Dedication
Location
Date
Window Subjects, Notes & Links
Images & Links
Barnes, London
St Mary
East
1893
3-light window: BVM, Crucifixion, St John;
Link to church article.
The church website has a number of scrapbooks online documenting the destruction of the church in 1978.

(The Builder Vol 65 14 Oct 1893, p288): Church largely destroyed by fire 8th June 1978. The rebuilt church reopened 26 February 1984.
Barnsley,
South Yorkshire
St John
East
1898
5-light window: Ascension
Church demolished in the 1960s



Chancel
1898
Two 3-light windows: Crucifixion & Resurrection

 

 

U/K
1898
"Twelve windows" representing the Law and the Prophets.
Birkenhead,
Merseyside
Catholic Apostolic Church
U/K
1908
St Paul
Church burned down in 2009
The Builder 31 Oct 1908, p470, reported a single light window having been installed but fails to mention the location. It contained the figure of St Paul with a scroll above which read, "I have fought the good fight".

Bognor Regis,
West Sussex
U/K
Var
Christ distributing the gifts of mercy. 1912.
Courage, Christ Consoler & Victory: 1916.


Church built in 1880 by Blomfield. Demolished in 1972/3. See Sussex Parish Churches website for more information. Images on Bognor Museum Facebook Page. The Courage, Christ Consoler & Victory window was transferred to Ulverston Parish Church before the church was demolished.

St George
East
1904
Crucifixion, Baptism, St John, BVM, Supper at Emmaus.


Church declared structurally unsafe in 1976 and demolished.
St Paul
Various
Var
Many stained glass windows executed over a number of years for George Fellowes-Prynne's new church.


East window 1910.
Most destroyed by enemy bombing in April 1942. Three windows on the south of the chancel survived but were badly damaged, and later restored by Wippel & Co. More details in the main entry for Budleigh Salterton.

Camden, London
N/A
1899
Church Decoration.
St James Chapel, Hampstead Road, Euston
Image © The Trustees of the British Library
Sanctuary floor laid with wooden blocks, walls panelled, baldachino with painted angels above. Wrought iron rails to the outside. See architectural designs for St James's Chapel, Hampstead Road, London, with sexton's house and vicarage at the RIBA archive.

Coddenham, Suffolk
St Mary
Chancel
1899
Reredos carved in oak with high relief.
St Mary's Church, Coddenham, Suffolk.
The Builder 1899-01-14: Vol 76, p50. The subjects represented were — on the left the three Maries at the tomb, and on the right the descent of our Blessed Lord from the Cross. Iron cranes with curtains hanging therefrom are fixed on either side. Now removed - fate unknown.

Coggeshall, Essex
St Peter ad Vincula
Organ
1895
St Peter ad Vincula's Church Coggleshall, Essex
Organ pipe decoration to designs by Ernest Geldart. Removed after bomb damage in 1940.
Chelmsford Chronicle - 27 Dec 1895, p6..

St Saviour
STr
1904
Stained glass window for George Fellowes-Prynne. "The Annunciation", “The Visitation", "The Nativity", and "The Adoration of the Angels, Shepherds, and Magi".

 

 

 

  
   
St Saviour
Chancel
1925
Reredos Mosaic work.
Church sustained considerable bomb damage in 1940. Ocassional services were held in the unroofed ruin until 1951. In 1957 the land was bought by the borough council to allow the expansion of the adjacent school, and the remains of the church cleared away.

Eastbourne, East Sussex
St Peter
St Peter's Church, Eastbourne. Demolished in 1971
Church was demolished in 1971. Probably the five-light west window was filled with Percy Bacon glass, as well as a number of other lancets. Little information has come to light regarding the subject matter.

Exeter, Devon
NAW
1904
Jonathan, David & Samson.
Exeter Cathedral:

R. D. Blackmore memorial Tablet
The window installed above the west door on the north side was part of a memorial to R. D. Blackmore, author of "Lorna Doone". Beneath the window a marble tablet was installed (and is still extant) with a portrait of the novelist in high relief by Harry Hems and Sons of Exeter. The window was destroyed by enemy bombing in World War II. The window was replaced during the repairs to the cathedral (completed 1952) by Powells to a design by A. F. Erridge. The new window depicts the same characters as the original. Main Entry.

Exeter, Devon
SAW
1895
Devon Saints: Ss Sidwell, Boniface, Hieretha.
Stained glass by Percy Bacon & Brothers; St Sidwell's Church Exeter
The church was razed to the ground by german bombing in WWII but some of the glass was recovered and stored in St Matthew's Exeter for safe keeping, only to be found again in 2016.
Article in Church Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haringey,
Bounds Green
St Gabriel
(old church)
?
c1894
Stained glass.

 

 

The only reference to a Percy Bacon window which was gifted to the church is a letter from the incumbent the Rev T. C. Elsdon, which appeared in The Building and Engineering Journal in November 1894. A new church to replace the original mission church of St Gabriel’s was built in 1906, the old church becoming the parish hall. Both buildings are no longer extant.

Gateshead,
Tyne & Wear
?
c1900
Unknown
Gateshead St Aidan's Church
Very little information has so far been uncovered for Percy Bacon & Brothers glass in St Aidan's. A passing reference is made in the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette - Saturday 10 November 1900; which mentions (without elaboration) "other examples" for the firms works at St Aidan's in Gateshead.

St John Ev.
East
1903
E: Annunciation, Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
St John the Evangelist, Herne Bay, Kent
U/K
1903
Side Chapel: St James & St Peter
U/K
1905
St John the Baptist
St John the Evangelist
Brunswick Square, Herne Bay. Church consecrated in 1899. Window of five lights (1903) depicting the Annunciation, Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, surmounted by a round light representing Christ in Glory. A second two-light window depicting St James and St Peter was installed in 1905. Church demolished in 1974. Site now occupied by housing.

U/K
1898
Stained glass window


North Star (Darlington) - Thursday 21 April 1898, p3:
The Late Archdeacon Dobinson. The window which has been in St James’s Church West Hartlepool in memory of late Archdeacon by Bacon Bros London It represents Philip baptising the Ethiopian There is tablet bearing following inscription — To Glory of God and in for Henry Hugh Dobinson MA of the Niger formerly curate in parish fell in Holy April 13th Asaba”. The church was built in 1870 on the corner of Whitby Street and Musgrave Street. It was demolished in 1958.

N/A
1898
Pear Tree Street, Clerkenwell.


The Builder 24 Sep 1898: Vol 75 Iss 2903, p276:
"This church, built by the late Mr. Ewan Christian, is now undergoing thorough internal cleaning, and decoration in gold and colour, with a large painting in the east end of the church representing “ The Lord's Supper.” In fact the whole building will be painted from top to bottom. The work is being carried out by Messrs. Percy Bacon & Bros., of Newman-street, W., under the direction of the architect, Mr. Romaine Walker".
Church damaged during WWII and demolished in 1953.

Liverpool, Sefton Park
Presbyterian
U/K
1909
The church stood on the junction of Croxteth Road/Brompton Avenue.
Septon Park Presbyterian Church Liverpool
Church was demolished in 1980. The window consisted of three lights, the upper portions with a representation of Jesus blessing children. Underneath three subjects: In the centre; Baptism of Our Lord, and running through the outer lights, In the House of Simon the Leper.

Cathedral
Bap W
1893
Lost due to bombing during World War II (December 1940).
Manchester Cathedral Baptisty Window 1893

 

This large six-light window represented baptism by blood, water, and fire, illustrated by the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the baptism of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

 

 

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Cathedral
Bap S
1892
Lost due to bombing during World War II (December 1940).
Installed along with the above window.

This window, appropriately for a baptistry, illustrated Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me.

Newburn
Tyne & Wear
St Michael & All Angels
Gen
1897
Decorative Works: Reredos, wall paintings.
St Michael & All Angels Church, Newburn, Tyne and Wear
Chancel wall paintings were whitewashed in the 1950s, and the paintings over the chancel arch destroyed in a fire in 2006. The latter was replaced with a new scheme.
Manchester, Cheetham
St Saviour
U/K
1897
Five windows depicting the four evangelists and Christ the King (The Builder Vol 73 21 Aug 1897, p156).
Mission church to Manchester Cathedral Parish. Demolished.
Manchester
Crumpsall,
St Mary
NA
1893-
1897
Wall decoration in chancel (1893).
At least three two-light windows in the north aisle installed 1893-1897.
Church demolished in 1977.
Crumpsall St Mary, circa 1900
St Paul
U/K
1898
Five lights depicting northern saints.
St Paul's Church on Newport Road, Middlesbrough
Windows in memory of Mr Bertram who was for many years a Sunday School Teacher, Mr Hugh Joy, Miss Robinson, Mr Allan Roberts, and Mr and Mrs Henry Roberts. These five lights were to be part of a series of twelve depicting northern saints. The church was demolished in 1966. The site is now occupied by houses.
Apse
1892
Church Decoration


St Cuthbert's, circa 1967.
Church decoration: Paintings of saints on the apse walls. Church closed in 1967 and demolished, 1969.

U/K
1906
Window: Annunciation to the Virgin Mary.
Watercolour design in Northumberland Records Office Ref No. DN/E/8/2/2/289.
St Cuthbert's Church lay on the south side of Melbourne Street between Jubilee Road and Tower Street. The site is now student flats.
St Mary
U/K
c1896
Stained glass window. Subject unknown.
Elswick St Mary c1925

St Mary, Elswick, c1905.
The only reference which has so far come to light for this window appeared in an article in The Builder of 13th June 1896, p508 reporting on the exhibition at the Royal Academy of 1896, which stated, "...the usual style of window by these artists [Percy Bacon and Brothers], as illustrated in No. 1700, a window for St Mary's Newcastle-on-Tyne, with a special manner of framing the figures amid a good deal of architecturalised detail, in good and decorative effect, but is an effect they repeat without much variation."

St Mary's Elswick (illustrated right) stood on Westmorland Road at the junction of Rye Hill. It was demolished in 1966.
St George
SC1
1896
St. Augustine of Canterbury. St. Columba, and St. Patrick.
St George's Church, Perry Hill, London c1920

St George's, c1920
The old church was demolished in 1999 due to severe structural problems. A new church was built on the same site. One of the windows depicting Ss. Augustine of Canterbury, Columba, and Patrick was rescued by an architectural salvage company.
Belfast News-Letter - Tuesday 17 January 1899.
Article on Gazettelive website.

 

 

 

 


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St George
NC1
1896
SS. Ignatius and Cyprian, two early martyrs, and St. Leo.

St George's Church, Perry Hill, London c1920

St George's, c1920
The old church was demolished during 1999 due to severe structural problems. A new church was built on the same site. One of the windows depicting Ss. Ignatius and St. Cyprian, two early martyrs, and of St. Leo.
Kentish Mercury - Friday 03 January 1896 p5
St George
UK
1899
Archbishop Benson, of Canterbury; Bishop Patteson, the martyr Bishop of Melanesia; and Archbishop Alexander, Primate of All Ireland;
St George's Church, Perry Hill, London c1920

St George's, c1920
"The faces have been painted from photographts, and are striking likenesses of the great prelates, wto are vested in full canonicals, the arms of the respective sees appearing in the trefoils".
Belfast News-Letter - Tue. 17 Jan 1899, p7.
St Peter
U/K
1893

 

St Peter Upton Park stood on the eastern side of Upton Lane in West Ham, midway between the junctions of Lancaster and Boleyn roads and with St Antony of Padua behind it (see links). It began as the nearby Pelly Road Mission, at the south-east corner with Crescent Road. An iron church was licensed in 1877. Construction of St Peter's began in 1893, in red and yellow brick in the Early English style, but demolition followed between 1973 and 2010.
Plymouth, Devon
Apse
1894
The church survived the war but was eventually demolished in 1985.
Patron Saints of Guilds of the Parish.

See article in The Builder Vol 66 1894 21 Apr, p296.

 

 

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Reading, Berkshire.
East
1925
5-light E window.
Christ Consoler, St John, St Stephen, St Paul.
St Stephen's Church, Newtown, Reading, Berkshire

St Stephen's Church early 1900s.. Church demolished in 1976.

Bap.
1925
2-light baptistery window (West).
Presentation; Christ.
Scremerston, Northumberland.
St Peter
SN
c1895
Stained glass window depicting Christ the Consoler.
St Peter's Church, Scremerston
St Peter's Church, Scremerston.
.
SN
c1895
Stained glass window depicting BVM & Child

Illustrated Berwick Journal - Thursday 25 November 1954, p5..
"Scremerston Parish: After some years of negotiation Scremerston Pagish Church is with replacement of the windows on the South side of the Church, This was disclosed in the current issue of the “Church News,” by the Rev R, B. Chell, who stated: *As many of you will recall, eight windows—five of them stained glass memorial windows—were destroyed by a bomb in 1942. The War Damage Commission has been understanding and generous; and while we shall not replace the windows as they were, | believe that the new windows will have a simple dignity that will add greatly to the beauty of the Church..."

Southwark, London.
Holy Trinity
U/K
1905
Stained glass window. Nativity scene.



The Builder Vol 88 1905-06-10, p636.
"STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS.— At Holy Trinity Church, Southwark, a large stained-glass window, representing the Nativity, has been placed, with a brass memorial inscription beneath it. The window was executed in the studio of Messrs. Bacon & Brothers."

It is unclear which church The Builder is referring to. There are three candidates: Holy Trinity, Rotherhithe, The Most Holy Trinity RC church (both destroyed in WW2), and Newington Holy Trinity in Trinity Square. The latter is extant but contains no stained glass, and is now a concert hall.

Sheffield, S. Yorkshire
Sharrow
St Andrew
Chancel
1895
Reredos Paintings
See article in The Builder Vol 68 4 May 1895, p339.
The church was built in 1869 but had almost no foundations. By 1996 the church was unsafe to use and was demolished in 2000.
Photographs of the church being demolished in 2000.
Sunderland,
Tyne & Wear
Venerable Bede
East
1900
Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection & Ascension.
Church demolished in 1961.
The church stood on Monk Street.
St George
Various
1895
Many windows esp. in the east apse. A scheme to replace windows destroyed in 1918 by enemy bombing. Church destroyed in 1942 by German V1 flying bomb.
Woolwich Garrison Church circa 1910.
Woolwich Garrison Church
circa 1910.
Holy Trinity
Trans.
1905
Holy Trinity Church, Yeovil, Somerset
Four Evangelists..
The Builder v89 (4 Nov 1905) p477
Window, Trinity Church, Yeovil. — A four- light stained glass window has just been executed and erected in the transept of this church by Messrs. Percy Bacon & Brothers. The subjects are the four Evangelists, with their respective emblems depicted on shields held by angels under each figure. In the central piece of tracery appears the symbol of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, while in the side pieces are scrolls bearing texts. A memorial inscription runs through the bases of the four lights.

The church was declared redundant in the 1990's and converted to offices and a community spaces. Some stained glass survives, but the whereabouts or fate of the Percy Bacon glass is unknown.

 

 


References: Use your browser's Back button to return to text.

  1. Vidimus, Issue 50: Feauture: The Best of Company: The London Stained Glass Repository.

 

 

 

All text and photos © Alan Spencer, except where otherwise stated; All Rights Reserved