Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

St Mary's Church, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne viewed from the north west on Westmorland Road, c1905. Newcastle Libraries.

St Mary's Church, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne viewed from the north east on Westmorland Road, c1905. Newcastle Libraries.

St Mary's Church viewed from the north west, c1905.
Public domain image.

Posted 05 May 2025.

Only a single reference to this window has so far been uncovered, it being mentioned in an article in The Builder reviewing the 1896 exhibition at the Royal academy. Speaking of Percy Bacon's usual style of filling the space with a crowd of small figures it remarked;

St Mary's was built in 1858 in grand gothic style from designs by Benjamin Green on the corner of Westmorland Road and Rye Hill. It consisted of nave with low north and south aisles, north and south transepts and a crossing tower with corner spirelets and elegant spire, and chancel. Green died in November of 1958,² and may not have seen the completion of the church. St Mary's was originally in St John's parish which in 1855 comprised Benwell, Elswick and Westgate.³ It eventully became a parish in its own right in 1894.⁴ The church closed in 1964, and was demolished in 1966. The site is now part of Newcastle College.

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1. The Builder Vol 71, 13 June 1896, p508
2. Wikipedia. John & Benjamin Green.
3. History, Topography, and Directory of Northumberland: Whellan, William, & Co, 1855. See https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/st-johns-parish-1855.
4. Ruth Nicholson's Elswick: St James' Heritage & Environment Group 2022. ISBN 978-1-998995-1-0.