Stained Glass Windows - All Saints - Great Bourton, Oxfordshire
Posted by: SMacB
N 52° 06.374 W 001° 20.093
30U E 614036 N 5774161
Stained glass windows in All Saints' church, Great Bourton.
Waymark Code: WM12G13
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/20/2020
Views: 0
Stained glass windows in All Saints' church, Great Bourton.
The church was originally 13th century, but fell into disrerpair over the ensuing years and was almost entirely rebuilt in 1863 by William White
"At first the intention was to build an entirely new one, but this proved to be too expensive. At a meeting in 1861 it was agreed that the old chancel should be incorporated in a restored building.
The village was traditionally a poor one and the building was only made possible by gifts from Oxford colleges, the Bishop of Oxford and Philip Hoste himself. The chosen architect was William White who was responsible for work on many village churches over a wide area. The builders were Kimberley and Hopcraft of Banbury who also worked with William White on other projects. The cost of the building was £900 of which £891.11.4d had been subscribed by the day of consecration, 18th November 1863. The ceremony was conducted by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford. You can find out more about him further down the page.
Gifts for the new church included the reredos from the builders and the font and the small stained glass window on the north wall from Mr G Faulkener.
In the period immediately before William White was working, church interiors were thought to need religious gloom. Butterfield moved slightly away from this by making the nave lighter than the chancel. He then reacted more strongly against sombre buildings and was followed by William White who became preoccupied with the skilful use of natural light. He believed that “freshness of thought” was best encouraged by moderate light while “twilight is the most favourable to deep and close intellectual contemplation”. He thought that the need for light was too little considered by people who made gifts of stained glass. He believed that windows should be placed exactly where they were needed for internal light rather than adjusted to external symmetry. When viewed from the outside the windows on the north and west walls of All Saints can be seen to follow this philosophy. The stained glass of the East window of the chancel which was installed very soon after the rebuilding is consistent with William White’s ideals but the heavier colouring and design of the later glass in the window on the south wall of the nave is the only feature in the building which is not entirely sympathetic to his vision."
SOURCE - (
visit link)