Thomas Willement

Thomas Willement (18 July 1786 – 10 March 1871) was an English stained glass artist and writer, called "the father of Victorian stained glass", active from 1811 to 1865.

Life

Willement was born at St Marylebone, London, the son of Thomas Willement, a painter of coaches and heraldry. As a young man Willement worked at his father's business at 25 Green Street, Grosvenor Square. Like many early 19th century provincial stained glass artists, Willement started out as a plumber and glazier: two distinct trades both requiring lead-working skills. Willement became a leading and proficient stained-glass artist, reviving the medieval method of composing a window from separate pieces of coloured glass rather than painting pictures on glass with coloured enamels.

Willement married Katharine Griffith in 1817. Their son, Arthur Thomas, was born in 1833 and died at Oxford in 1854, aged 21. Katherine died in 1852. Willement died in 1871, aged 84, and was buried alongside his wife in the vault of St Mary Magdalene, Davington, which he had restored (see Davington Priory).

Historical background

The great period of medieval stained glass manufacturing between 1100 and the Tudor period ended in England after the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII and the destruction of the Church's artworks by Puritans during the Parliamentary period. Those few windows produced between 1500 and 1800 were generally of painted glass: the colours applied by brush to the surface of the glass and fired to anneal them, rather than the artist piecing numerous sections of coloured glass together.

Through observation and restoration of surviving windows (such as the 14th century west window of York Minster, and the 12th century Jesse Tree in the east window of the Church of St Mary, Westwell (see picture).), Willement reinvented the ancient method of leading coloured pieces and integrating the visually black lines created between the colours by the lead cames into the design of the window, and developed the artistic method of arranging figures one to each single light, surmounted by a decorative canopy.

Willement was also an expert on heraldry, which informed much of his work and restoration, and on which he published several authoritative works (see Bibliography).

Works

Willement's first window was installed in 1812 in Caerhays Castle, Cornwall for John Trevanion, and Willement established a lucrative business decorating and installing heraldic stained glass in the country houses of landed gentry.

In 1829 Willement installed windows in Goodrich Court, Herefordshire for Sir Samuel Meyrick, to whose ''Specimens of Ancient Furniture'' (1836) he later contributed. Willement would later work with the architect of Goodrich Court, Edward Blore, on a number of projects, including St George's Chapel, Windsor, and the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace. In 1831 Willement repaired and replaced the entirety of the 'ancient stained glass' in the windows of the Great Hall of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire, for George Lucy. In 1832 Willement began an extended association with architect Anthony Salvin, which would include work at Penrhyn Castle in Wales, Mamhead House in Devon, Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire, Scotney Castle in Kent and Harlaxton in Lincolnshire. Between 1833 and 1840 Willement repeatedly supplied windows and decorated Alton Towers, Staffordshire, for the Earl of Shrewsbury.

Willement's work with churches began during this period, including St Martin of Tours, Epsom in 1824, the east window of St Peter ad Vincula Church, Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire in 1837 (see image below), and Saint Michael and All Angels, Barbados in 1838. In the Great Hall of Christ's Hospital, Newgate, between 1836 and 1840 Willement installed massive windows memorialising the arms of the Governors.

In 1832 Willement was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and at some point appointed heraldic artist to George IV. Willement became an advocate of the Cambridge Camden Society (established 1839) who promoted a return to a medieval style of architecture in the structure of new churches and the restoration of existing churches. Willement's association with the society introduced him in 1840 to Augustus Pugin, the ecclesiastical architect and designer of churches. Willement worked on several projects for Pugin (including the chapel of the Convent of our Lady of Mercy, Handsworth, and the Chapel and School of the Hospital of St John, Alton), however Willement ultimately suffered a falling-out with Pugin, who was sometimes critical of Willement's historical accuracy, and accused him of being mercenary.

The break with Pugin did not set back Willement's success, and Willement was appointed, by Royal Patent, "Artist in Stained Glass" to Queen Victoria. In July 1840 Willement was appointed by the Dean and Canons of Windsor to supply four heraldic windows for the Quire of St George's Chapel, Windsor, beginning an association with the Chapel which would last until 1861. During this period, Willement designed and completed thirty new stained glass windows for the Chapel, and restored the Great West Window, and windows in the Oliver King and Beaufort Chapels. In 1844 Willement published ''An Account of the Restorations of the Collegiate Chapel of St George, Windsor: with some particulars of the heraldic ornaments of that edifice,'' a detailed account of the heraldy and decorations of the Chapel, and Willement's restorations thereof.

In 1842 Willement contributed to the restoration of Temple Church London by architects Sydney Smirke and Decimus Burton, who sought to revert Christopher Wren's 17th century Classical renovations to Victorian Gothic. Willement supplied three stained glass windows for the east end of the Church depicting scenes from the life of Jesus, and other decoration. The windows were ultimately destroyed in the Blitz, but a roundel in the nave survived (see Rose Window in Selected works).

Willement's final commission was to provide the east window of the Savoy Chapel, after a fire in 1864 nearly destroyed the chapel. Willement had previously renovated the chapel ceiling and reglazed the east window after a fire in 1842.

Davington Priory

By 1845 Willement, aged 59, had become wealthy and looked around for a home with a suitable resonance in which to spend his later years. He purchased Davington Priory near Faversham in Kent, a nunnery established in the 12th century and complete with its own church (the buildings had been spared in the Dissolution because by 1527 there were only three elderly nuns remaining). Willement restored and extended the buildings to make a comfortable home, and installed his own heraldic glass with the motto "Thynke and Thanke". Since he owned the church as well, he refurbished it with stained glass and had Taylors of Loughborough install five bells, each cast with the same motto, in the bell tower.

Davington Priory has since 1983 been the home of the musician Bob Geldof.

Selected works

Willement comprehensively documented his early work (1812–1840) in ''A Concise Account of the Principal Works in Stained Glass that have been Executed by Thomas Willement'' (1840). Modern surveys encompassing Willement's entire career may be found in Wilkinson (1964) and Wright (1964–65). A select list of buildings holding extant prominent examples of Willement's work follows.

Note that a considerable proportion of Victorian-era and Gothic revival stained glass, including works by Willement, has not survived to the present day, due to:

* demolition (e.g. Holy Trinity Church, Carlisle; Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire; Goodrich Court, Herefordshire),
* accidents (e.g. Crewe Hall, destroyed by fire),
* removal (e.g. Jesus College, Cambridge, St Katharine's Church, Regent's Park), and
* wartime bombing (e.g. Temple Church, London; Great Hall of Christ's Hospital, London; St Luke's Church, Chelsea).

Royal buildings

* Great Hall, Hampton Court Palace, Greater London (1844)
* St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire (1840–1861)

Places of worship

* St Bartholemew's Church, Cresswell, Northumberland (1836–1857)
* St Peter ad Vincula Church, Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire (1837- east window)
* Temple Church, City of London (1842 – Rose Window)
* Almshouse Chapel, Faversham, Kent (west window installed early 20th century, originally installed c1845 in St Mary's of Charity, Faversham)
* Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Harlington, (1845)
* Saint Michael and All Angels' Church, Badminton, Gloucestershire (1846–47 – windows featuring blue borders and badges in the yellow of the Duke of Beaufort's livery)
* All Saints' Church, Freethorpe, Norfolk ()
* St Laurence's Church, Ludlow, Shropshire (1860 – west window)
* St John's Church, Devizes, Wiltshire (1843 – chancel east window)
* Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset (1845 – restoration of east window of Lady Chapel)
* St Nicholas' Church, Kemerton, Worcestershire (1847 – east window, south aisle)
* St Peter's Church, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (1852)
* Savoy Chapel, Westminster (1865 – east window)

Houses

* Charlecote Park, Warwickshire (1831)
* Alton Towers, Staffordshire (1833–1940)
* Penrhyrn Castle, Llandygai, Gwynedd (1835-37 – Great Hall)
* Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire (1837)
* Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire (1838 – heraldic panel on main staircase)

Bibliography

As author

As contributor

– includes Willement's tracings from 1831

See also

Other early 19th century firms

* William Wailes
* William Warrington
* Charles Edmund Clutterbuck
* Hardman & Co.
* Augustus Welby Pugin
* William Holland
* Michael O'Connor

Context

* British and Irish stained glass (1811–1918)
* Gothic Revival architecture
* Poor Man's Bible
* Edward Jesse
* Edward Blore
* Anthony Salvin

Notes and references

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading

* Painton Cowen, ''A Guide to Stained Glass in Britain'', 1985, Michael Joseph,
* Elizabeth Morris, ''Stained and Decorative Glass'', Doubleday,
* Sarah Brown, ''Stained Glass – an Illustrated History'', Bracken Books,
* Simon Jenkins, ''England's Thousand Best Churches'', Allen Lane, the Penguin Press,
* John Harvey, ''English Cathedrals'', Batsford, 1961
* Cliff and Monica Robinson,
Stained Glass of Buckinghamshire Churches
'

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willement, Thomas
British stained glass artists and manufacturers
1786 births
1871 deaths