Percy Bacon & Brothers Stained Glass

Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Tadmarton, St Nicholas

Oxfordshire

South Chancel 2: St George. Memorial to 2nd Lieut. F. E. Riddle KIA 16 May 1915.

South Chancel 2: St George.

South Chancel 2: Dedication.

South Chancel 2: St George: WW1 Memorial, 1915.

South Chancel 2: St George. 1917. A. R. Mowbray execution.

Posted 21 May 2025.

There is a single window by Percy Bacon and Brothers, a small lancet set in a deeply splayed opening on the south side of the chancel. It is a memorial to 2nd Lieutenant Francis Edmund Riddle, the rector's son, who served with The 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckingham Light Infantry, from his enlistment in October 1913 to his death at the Battle of Festubert. Richebourg l' Avoue France on 16th May 1915.¹ The inscription reads:

"In memory of Francis Edmund Riddle, born June 10^th 1893 fell in battle May 16^th 1915."

The window represents the figure of St George defeating the dragon. However, it is not of Percy Bacon's usual standard of figurative painting, and is clearly by another's hand. This is explained by the reporting of the dedication ceremony on 2nd September 1917:²

"DISTRICT INTELLIGENCE TADMARTON. PASTORAL VISIT OF THE BISHOP OF OXFORD. DEDICATION OF STANED GLASS WINDOW TO THE MEMORY OF THE RECTOR’S SON. The Bishop of the Diocese (Dr. Gore) paid a pastoral visit Tadmarton on Sunday and dedicated a stained glass window to the memory Francis Edmund Langton Riddle. Second Lieutenant. 52nd Regiment of the Line, who was killed in action in France. The window is the south-west side of the chancel, and Messrs. Mowbray, of Oxford, have carried out the design of the architect, Mr. Bacon."

This is the only known example of a stained glass window executed by A. R. Mowbray & Co. of Oxford, an agent for Percy Bacon.³

The window in unsigned.

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

Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museum website.
Banbury Guardian - Thursday 06 September 1917: p3.
Ibid.

Location Map:

NGR: SP 39238 37855
Sat Nav Post Code: OX15 5SG