Francis Spear, west window (1962), Church of All Saints, Victoria Square, Penarth.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Francis Spear, detail of west window (1962), Church of All Saints, Victoria Square, Penarth.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Church of All Saints, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan

Address

Church of All Saints, Victoria Square, Penarth CF64 3EJ

Recommended by

Martin Crampin (10)

Highlight

Christ in Majesty with the Symbols of the Four Evangelists, west window

Artist, maker and date

Francis Spear, 1962

Reason for highlighting

In the late 1950s the diocesan advisory committee began to encourage modern design for stained glass. This dazzling window by Francis Spear for the west window of All Saints is an example of this new impetus and the most impressive of a number of windows by the artist in Wales.

Other comments

Following devastation in 1941, and the loss of the only windows by Harry Clarke in Wales, the church was reopened in the 1950s, and furnished with a number of windows by G. Maile & Son, designed by Arthur Walker. The late 1950s saw an abrupt change towards a preference for modern styles by the Diocese of Llandaff, and this change is particularly marked at All Saints, with the introduction in 1962 of Francis Spear’s west window and a south aisle window by E Liddall Armitage for James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) Ltd. A further window by Francis Spear was added in 1963.

The 1960s also saw the first of a series of three windows by John Petts in the north aisle, made in 1966, 1978 and 1986, which display his work to good effect.

Also from the 1980s is a window reflecting the unique style of sculptor and stained glass artist, Frank Roper, who for many years worked from his cliff-top workshop overlooking Penarth pier.

Recently the church has added windows by Helen Whittaker, 2018, and Christian Ryan, 2019.

Further Reading:
A Change of Direction: Modernism in the stained glass of the Diocese of Llandaff in the 1950s and 1960s by Martin Crampin (The Journal of Stained Glass, vol. XLII, 2018).
Stained Glass in Wales – Church of All Saints, Penarth

Artist/maker notes

Francis Howard Spear (1902-79) was a stained glass artist and lithographer. He trained at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and was an assistant to Martin Travers, who influenced his style. Many early works were made at The Glass House, Fulham where he also had a studio from 1935 until 1940. After the war he set up his own studio, first in London and finally in Reigate, Surrey.

Sources:
Francis Spear on Wikipedia
The Stained Glass of Francis Spear by Alan Brooks (Privately published, 2012)

Highlighted dates at this location

1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 2018, 2019 (Go to date search)