Percy Bacon & Brothers Stained Glass

Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Norwich. Salvation Army Shop, Lower Goat Lane.

Norfolk

Posted 15 October 2025.

Of all the stained glass produced by the Percy Bacon Studios, there are only two examples of secular work, and the seven panels in the upper windows of Nos. 9-11 Lower Goat Lane in Norwich is perhaps the most secular, and the most jolly, possibly, even, exhibiting a slight whiff of pagan practice. The other example of purely secular work is the Izaak Walton window in St Dunstan in the West, in the City of London. We might also include a third example; the window illustrating the Consecration of Samuel Seabury as First Bishop of America in Old St Paul's Episcopal, Edinburgh, though even this window has religious overtones. There is some considerable doubt that the series of windows in 9-11 Lower Goat Lane are by Percy Bacon, so this for the time being will remain as an attribution only, and a tenuous one at that.

11 Lower Goat Lane, Norwich. Seven of the small windows including one above the door are filled with stained glass illustrating "Yuletide", one of which is signed, "P. C. H. Bacon. Between 1864 and 1959 the building was a public house, The Oak Shades Tavern, but is currently occupied by the Salvation Army.

9-11 Lower Goat Lane, Norwich.

A Potted History of Nos. 9 & 11 Lower Goat Lane.

Although the exact year Nos. 9 and 11 Lower Goat Lane were built has not been confirmed, they were clearly constructed as a single property sometime in the 19th century. Initially the ground floor was originally divided into two separate premises, possibly with a common hallway or alleyway between the two, as an insurance map of 1894 shows.¹ In 1853 No. 11 is listed in the Post Office Directory as occupied by a William Smith, who is described as a "wholesale general warehouseman".² Between 1864 and 1959 11 Lower Goat Lane was a public house, The Oak Shades Tavern,³ with a skittle alley at the rear. After that the premises seems to have been used as a cafe, though evidence to confirm the uses for the building over the intervening years has been hard to come by. In 1865 No.9 was occupied by James Craske, an upholsterer.⁴ For thirty years from 1879, No.9 had been a hardware shop owned by Christmas Goreham (tinware manufacturer). In 1909 he went out of business due to insolvency,⁵ and the property was put on the market. In 1915 No.9 was listed as operating as a hardware store under William Frost.⁶ He seems to have continued in that business until his death in 1950.⁷

This provides the earliest date at which the ground floor premises were conjoined, but this is clearly considerably later than the demise of Percy Bacon limited in 1931, and Percy Bacon's death in 1935.

In 1974 the upper floors of the two properties were The Copper Lodge Hotel, which was described as being, "minute".⁸

The combined ground floor premises, now operates as a charity shop run by the Salvation Army, and the series of panels spread across Nos. 9 and 11 were clearly installed after the two addresses were conjoined post 1950. The Salvation Army purchased the combined properties of Nos 9 & 11 in February 1978.⁹ All this suggests that the panels were not made specifically for this location, but (assuming the attribution to Percy Bacon is correct - and this is by no means certain) were executed for another property prior to the firm's demise, and relocated at a later date. If any additional information comes to hand this page will be updated.

The Panels.

These curious panels with varying aspect ratios have been set in the upper windows of the shop front. The left hand panel has a small scroll with the title of the work - "Yuletide" - and a signature; "P. C. H. BACON". By no means does this confirm that the panels were made at the Bacon workshop; of all the workshop's output this is the only stained glass window signed this way, this form of signature being reserved by Percy Bacon for his paintings or designs.

This raises more questions than answers. Is this a forgery? Was the work designed by Percy Bacon but executed by another workshop (possibly in Norwich). The robust style of the figurative work is significantly different to Percy's more realistic execution indicating (or perhaps providing certainty) that windows were not painted by Percy Bacon himself.

Panel 1.

Panel 2.

Panel 3.

Panel 4.

Panel 5.

Panel 6.

Panel 7.

Signature panel.

The panels represent the ritual of the Yule Log and the celebrations surrounding it. Viewing from left to right: Panel 1: In the first panel we see two men pulling on ropes, clearly hauling something out of frame. In the foreground a man with a mop hat appears to give directions. He has a sharpening steel attached to a rope around his waist. Does this represent a butcher, and are the men dragging a reluctant animal destined for the roasting pit? Panel 2: Scene in a tavern. The main character half sitting on a table holds a goblet aloft as if toasting. Behind him to the right another man is pouring wine into a gold coloured goblet from a pewter jug, and to his left, a servant holds a pewter bowl with a ladle. Does this contain a sort of punch, or more likely mead? Panel 3: Three musicians. Panel 4: This panel is a little confusing, as it is not clear what connection it has with the Yuletide rituals. Three men are raising a garlanded pole outside a house while a musician plays a bagpipe. To their left a woman looks on, while a boy holding another garland prepares to add further decoration. Panels 5 and 6 may be connected. In Panel 5 three men sit at a table, probably in a tavern. Another, possibly a waiter, carries a jug. The three men all look to the right of the panel (towards panel 6), the man in the foreground raising his goblet in a toast. Are they toasting the entrance of the Yule log (Panel 6). In Panel 6 we see a large log on a rudimentary cart being hauled by two men. Another seems to be pushing the cart from the rear, while two musicians clash cymbals and beat a drum. Sitting on the log is a jester who holds a leaf crown adorned with flowers. Panel 7: Another tavern scene: Here a rather corpulent man with a weighty looking purse hanging from his belt holds a goblet aloft, while another ban behind him brings a chair.

The series is clearly meant to engender a sense of merriment and celebration. It seems to draw less on a Christian ritual, and more upon the Norse pagan tradition of Yule which was a celebration of the winter solstice on 21st December, and the welcoming of longer days ahead.

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

Chas E. Goad Limited. Insurance Plan of Norwich Sheet 6. 1894. Available at https://www.oldmapsonline.org.
The Post Office Directory of Cambridge, Norfolk, and Suffolk, 1953, p212.
Norfolk Public Houses website: List of licensees of the Oak Shades Tavern.
Kelly, E. R. The Post Office Directory of Norfolk & Suffolk, 1865, p330.
Cromer & North Norfolk Post - 25 June 1909, p7. London Gazette, 11 June 1909, p4538 ("Receiving Orders".
Lowestoft Journal - Saturday 18 December 1915, p7. Report on fines imposed for breach of the wartime Lighting Order.
The London Gazette, 27 Jan 1950, p504. (Notices under the Trustees Act, 1925 s7).
Simon, K. England's Green and Pleasant Land, p48, 1974. See also London Gazette, 6976, 29 May 1975.
Town Names website: https://townnames.co.uk/search/postcode-income-results?search=NR21EL.

Location Map:

NGR: TG 22873 08623
Sat Nav Post Code: NR2 1EL