Church of St George, Jesmond, Tyne & Wear
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Church of St George, St Georges Close, Jesmond, Tyne & Wear NE2 2TFRecommended by
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West windowArtist, maker and date
Designed by John William Brown and Thomas Ralph Spence, made by O’Neil Brothers and fitted by Gateshead Stained Glass Company, 1888Reason for highlighting
Spence reworked Brown’s design for The Last Judgement to emphasis the Resurrection. The result, which may owe more to Spence than Brown, allows the huge figurative angels at a high level to combine with Spence’s dramatic surrounding stone tracery to create an extraordinary whole.
Artist/maker notes
John William Brown (1842-1928) was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and trained as an artist under William Bell Scott at the Newcastle Government School of Design, later joining the staff when Scott moved to London in 1864. In the late 1869 Brown also moved to London and joined the William Morris studio, before being attracted to joined James Powell and Sons in 1874. In the mid-1880s, while continuing to design for Powells, he took up freelance work, forging a particularly strong link with Fouracre & Watson in Plymouth. His Newcastle links also led to his involvement in Thomas Ralph Spence’s great Church of St George, Jesmond. This increased his engagement with the ideas of the emerging Arts & Crafts Movement, as could be seen in his work when he rejoined Powells in 1894, after three years in Australia.
Source: Damozels and Deities: Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass 1870–1898 by William Waters, (Abbots Morton: Seraphim, 2017)
Gateshead Stained Glass Company (1879-1926) was founded by James George Sowerby (1850-1914) and Thomas Ralph Spence (1848-1918), architect. Spence and A H Marsh (1842-1909) carried out much of the early design work. When Spence moved to London in 1882 Marsh became the chief designer, and in the late 1880s both became free-lance designers. The company was taken over by H G Drummond in 1887 and closed in 1926.
O’Neil Brothers were London based stained glass manufacturers, who flourished between 1880-1930.
Sources:
Stained Glass Marks and Monograms by Joyce Little (London: National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies, 2002)
The Arts and Crafts Movement in the North East of England: A Handbook by Barrie and Wendy Armstrong (Wetherby: Oblong, 2013)
T R Spence, a biographical introduction by Neil Moat on The Victorian Web
Sussex Parish Churches website – Architects and Artists – N/O
Other comments
This Grade I listed building was designed by Spence and is his masterpiece. He oversaw all aspects, including the other windows in the church, which were also a collaborative effort led by Spence, with assistance from Brown, and executed by the Gateshead Glass Company.