Thread by @todbooklady

#ArtsandCrafts #Cotswolds #churches Bacton St. Faith has four Powells windows. Some confusion between sources as to location means I haven't established designers yet, but they are quite a nice group, installed over a decade, 1901-11
Images with thanks to Rex Harris.

I am attempting to learn to love Powells as an exponent of Arts & Crafts. Of all the large commercial glass producers, they were the most innovative in stylistic & technical terms. These designs are rather looser than many of their contemporaries', with plainer backgrounds.

St. Firth's restoration came late, in 1892-4. Perhaps the new thinking on the value of historic fabric stayed the dreaded Nicholson hand, as he retained much C12-C15 work, rebuilding only the E wall, S porch & the chancel waggon roof, adding bosses & angels.

There is a rood beam, complete with rood, puzzlingly not mentioned by Pevsner, so unlikely to be C15, as the stalls are. Investigation needed. The stone & alabaster reredos, however, is clearly of 1907, with its scene of the Last supper.
Image: Nicholas Kaye

An unexpected beauty was this (always inspect the postcard rack & look behind curtains in unexpected places!)

It's a C17 embroidered altar frontal, faded but still lovely, carpeted with flowers interspersed by animals, birds & insects.
Images: Nicholas Kaye (R); ricardo (bear detail)

A glimpse of Nicholson's boarded barrel vaulted chancel ceiling & the substantial rood beam, courtesy of Rex Harris. You can also see the robust C15 embattled wall plate, still in place. Note the quantity of mural tablets, several of which I shall post up after a short break.

A swift round-up of WWI memorials, two of alabaster & a Powells opus sectile tablet with the ubiquitous St. George. There are also memorials to individuals who died in the Boer War & WWII.
Images: Nicholas Kaye

@NellytheWillow @PosyHill1 @chartres_Fiona @CarolineIrwin3 @StroudStory @SlCathy @2019Ifaw @mutley7781 @Portaspeciosa @JudyADoherty Lastly, an enjoyable look at a classic 'Man & wife' tablet pair, in which Mary Elizabeth Bailey Partridge thoroughly upstages her husband, not only by surviving him by some 30 years but with a tribute that glows with love, rather than filial duty.
Image: Nicholas Kaye