[44335] St Peter, Wolverhampton : St Peter

St Peter, Wolverhampton, West Midlands.

Skidmore Memorial Window, c1947 - detail.

By James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars.

To the Glory of God and in memory of Frederick Howard Skidmore, Mayor of Wolverhampton 1913-14 who died 14th July 1920 and also of Sarah his wife who died 14th January 1939.

 

James Powell & Sons, situated on the site of the former Whitefriars monastery, between the Thames and Fleet Street, was producing mainly flint glass when it was bought in 1834 by James Powell, a London wine merchant. On his death the firm passed to his three sons Arthur, Nathaniel and James Cotton Powell, who in 1844 established a stained glass department. The latter benefitted from the scientific researches of Charles Winston, a lawyer by profession, who had dedicated himself to the study of medieval stained glass. It had made him aware of the shortcomings of the glass available to contemporary artists, this being often thin and garish in colour. In 1847 he encouraged experiments aimed at rediscovering the chemical components of medieval glass and persuaded the firm of James Powell & Sons to produce 'antique' glass to his recipes. It was mainly due to this collaboration that the firm was to become one of the most important studios and glass manufacturers of the Victorian period.

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