Stained glass windows in St Mary & St Peter's church, Harlaxton.
"The nineteenth century saw a great revival in the art of stained glass making. Rebelling against the thin, watery glass and the enamel-painted pictorial style of the previous century, people such as Charles Winston and A.W.N. Pugin encouraged others to adopt a quality of glass and a subject matter closer to the mediaeval stained glass.
Charles Winston used the glass makers, James Powell and Sons, to reproduce as closely as possible the quality of mediaeval stained glass and it was this pioneer work that resulted in the great explosion of nineteenth century stained glass, both in quantity and quality.
It is interesting, therefore, that, with the exception of the large east window depicting the Last Supper and Transfiguration, and the Crucifixion window in the south aisle, all the stained glass in Harlaxton Church was made by the firm of James Powell and Sons.
This Whitefriars based company existed as a glass making interest in the seventeenth century, to be taken over by James Powell in 1834. It was Arthur Powell, head of a firm from 1840, who opened a stained glass department in 1844, a department which was to continue producing work until 1973.
The firm of Powells employed a large number of well-known freelance designers to provide materials for their windows. This explains in past the 'great variety of styles one sees in the windows in this church.
The window depicting the Baptism (e. 1885), located in the south aisle and dedicated to Canon Garfit, is probably the design of J .W. Brown, who joined the firm of Powells in 1872. By this date Powells, under the increasing influence of artist/designer Henry Holiday, was an extremely successful and progressive company. Holiday, it is interesting to note, had strong connections with William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, who had himself designed windows for Powells in and around 1857.
The Nativity is the subject matter of the window dedicated to Catherine, wife of John ‘Sherwin-Gregory, located in the Lady Chapel. The Gregory family are strongly connected with Harlaxton village in as much as Gregory built the new Manor just outside the village in.the l830’s. This very beautiful window, dating from around 1892 and possibly the design of George Parlby, shows, in the detail and the jewel-like quality of glass, the great influence of Arts and Crafts movement, in particular the stained glass work of Christopher Whall.
The window in the Lady Chapel was given by the Ven. G. W. Jeudwine, a former Rector, in memory of his son, who was killed in the first World War. The pictures of both Archdeacon Jeudwine and his son are said to be faithful likenesses.
The last Powell's window is located in the north aisle and shows Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. Peter. The designer has not been conclusively identified, but this may be either a late work by J.W. Brown or an early work by G.P. Hutchinson. Here St. Peter is identified by his symbols, the book and keys, and the Virgin Mary holds her symbol, the lily.
The east window comes from the firm of Ward and Hughes and dates probably from the l870’s. The firm of Ward and Hughes was born out of Ward and Nixon, whose earliest known window, Christ with St. Peter and Paul, 1835, is in the church of St. Martin, Onston Ferry, Lincolnshire. The partnership broke up e. 1850 and Nixon was replaced by Henry Hughes, who became chief designer. Other Ward and Hughes windows are to be seen at Barkston Church, Marston and Lincoln Cathedral (great east window).
An interesting feature of this window is its sad state of repair. This is more than likely due to the use of borax in the early states of manufacture of the glass. William Morris explains the problem thus:
"Borax is the name of the culprit: the colour makers, finding that the glass-painters wanted a colour that would burn well at a lowish temperature, mixed borax with it to that end; but unluckily glass of borax is soluble in water . . . “
Borax being water-soluble means that, as soon as a window on which it has been used was exposed to rain or damp, the painted areas peeled off, particularly effecting the fleshtones.
The last window to mention, but in fact the earliest in date, is the Crucifixion window located in the south aisle, dating from c1860. This window is the work of Cox and Sons, a London based firm founded by Thomas Cox, who initially had been a clerical tailor. Cox and Sons employed several capable designers. Bruce J. Talbert; Samuel J. Nicholl; J. Moyr Smith; Charles Rossiter, but eventually wound up in the 1890’s. In this window one can see the influence of the Gothic Revival style as advocated by A.W.N. Pugin. This style was particularly popular in the mid-nineteenth century, using decorative canopy work over the figures and stylish poses for the figures in an attempt to emulate mediaeval stained glass."
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