Church of St Andrew, Roker, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
Address
Church of St Andrew, Talbot Road, Roker, Sunderland, SR6 9PTRecommended by
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East windowArtist, maker and date
Henry Payne, 1907Reason for highlighting
The east window of this renowned Arts & Crafts church depicts the Ascension. It is a stunning examples of Payne’s work, that was described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as ‘having the quality of rich tapestry and glows like jewellery’.
Artist/maker notes
Henry Albert Payne (1868-1940) was a key maker of Arts and Crafts stained glass. He is closely linked to Birmingham School of Art, both as a student and later as a teacher, training designers and makers such as Margaret Agnes Rope (1882-1953), A. J. Davies (1877-1953), Richard Stubington (1885-1966) and Florence Camm (1874-1960).
In 1901, in advance of launching its stained glass classes, Birmingham The School of Art paid for him to have three months training in stained-glass making from Christopher Whall. Despite Payne’s short tenure with him, Whall was clearly impressed by his work, and used one of Payne’s designs in his book, Stained Glass Work of 1905.
The following year saw the beginning of his association with William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp of Madresfield Court. Beauchamp’s commissions included both stained glass and murals for Madresfield Court Chapel, with the latter being one of Payne’s best known works as a painter.
In 1909 Payne left Birmingham and moved to Amberley, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, and created his own small craft guild, the St. Loe’s Guild, in the house adapted for him by local Arts and Crafts architect Sidney Barnsley. It was there he trained his son, Edward Payne.
Major later commissions include a war memorial window for the church of St. James, Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, a mural for the Houses of Parliament, and memorial glass to the fallen of the British Empire at the French National War Memorial at Notre Dame de Lorette, 1929.
Payne’s grand-daughter is the artist, Caroline Swash.
Sources:
Stained Glass Window Makers of Birmingham School of Art by Roy Albutt, 2013
Henry Payne Stained Glass Work at Birmingham School of Art on historywm.com
Other comments
This outstanding Arts and Crafts church is full of interest and is the masterpiece of the architect, Edward Schroeder Prior (1852-1932). Prior was also an important teacher & theorist, establishing the Cambridge School of Architecture, while Slade Professor of Art.
In glass he is renown for an innovative clear glass that he had developed with Britten & Gilson. Known as Prior’s Early English Glass, its distinctiveness came from the box shaped mould used in its production. This produced a thicker and more uneven glass, thus altering the way light interacts with a window.
Prior used this glass, here made by Hayward Bros and Eckstein of London, for the nave windows to transform the look and feel of otherwise traditionally leaded plain glass windows.
Sources:
Edward Schroeder Prior on Wikipedia
The Arts and Crafts Movement in the North East of England – A Handbook by Barrie and Wendy Armstrong (Published for the authors by Oblong Creative Ltd, 2013.