Historic Churches 2022

BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 29TH ANNUAL EDITION 23 the new artists of the Arts & Crafts movement. Both developed new types of glass with variations in colour and thickness that suited the movement and encouraged experimentation. A further company, Lowndes & Drury, formed in 1897 with the specific aim of working for the Arts & Crafts artists and to exploit the potential of the new forms of glass. Both its founders had worked at Britten & Gilson, Mary Lowndes as an artist and Alfred Drury as a glazier. In 1896 the Central School of Arts & Crafts (now St Martin’s) opened in London under the leadership of the architect W R Lethaby and sculptor George Frampton. Christopher Whall taught evening classes in the design of stained glass from the start, and he brought in Alfred Drury to teach the practical aspects of cutting and leading. A stained glass course was then established at the Royal College of Art and by 1901 both Whall and Drury were officially teaching on this course too. For his early commissions Whall had been painting his designs directly onto the glass itself, with the help of just a few assistants. Now he took on apprentices from his evening classes so they could continue their training. These included both women and men, among them the watercolourist Beatrice Parsons, and she was later joined by her much young brother Karl, who in 1899 was just 15. At that time Whall would have been working on the windows for Holy Trinity, Chelsea, which was later dubbed the ‘Cathedral of Arts & Crafts Movement’ because its architect, John Dando Sedding pulled in some of the finest designers of the new movement to help furnish and decorate it. Whall was responsible for several windows in the south aisle, including two large three-light windows and several smaller clerestory windows. They were all made by Lowndes & Drury from their house in Park Walk, Chelsea. The Adoration of the Magi and the Shepherds was completed in 1900, so it was probably the first major project that Parsons was involved in. By 1906 Parsons was working from a studio at Lowndes & Drury’s new premises in Fulham, The Glass House, and he retained a studio there until 1930. Initial projects were carried out for Christopher Whall, including windows for St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, and it was not until 1908 that he completed his first independent commission, a two- light window depicting Christ the Healer for the church of St Alban in Hindhead, Surrey. Over the following two years he made four more windows for the church. In one light of Christ the Healer Jesus raises his hand in blessing and in the other, a kneeling man receives it in the form of a shaft of light which connects both lights, emanating from Jesus the Healer (1908) is one of five windows designed by Karl Parsons for St Alban’s church in Hindhead, Surrey from his studio at the Glass House. (Photo: Andrew Loutit) Detail showing the thickness of glass and a section of the lead used by Parsons for his 1919 memorial window at East Harptree, Somerset (Photo: Holy Well Glass) Christ’s raised hand but also from the centre of his halo. Two further people, one holding a baby, wait to be healed. The subject and the imagery are highly sentimental, and every detail adds pathos. Stylistically, the result is very similar to Christopher Whall’s, with exquisitely drawn detail, the use of lead to delineate background patterns and bold colouring. This is not the first work of a developing artist: the work reflects the bold confidence of a designer who has already gained years of experience working with Whall, and who by now had taken over from Whall to teach at the Central School. Although much of the formal composition of Gothic Revival stained glass has gone, the composition of Parsons’ windows still retain respect for the architectural surround. The figure of Christ dominates the centre of one light, while the two standing people and the central kneeling figure retain a central focus in the other light, which is reinforced by the blue background to