[120499] St Peter & St Paul, West Newton : St Felix & St Etheldreda

St Peter & St Paul, West Newton, Norfolk.

Window by Heaton, Butler & Bayne.

St Felix & St Etheldreda.

 

Clement Heaton (1824-1882).

James Butler (1830-1913).

Robert Turnill Bayne (1837-1915).

 

Clement Heaton, the son of a Methodist minister in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, was in 1851 a glass painter for William Holland of Warwick. He was in London by 1853 and briefly in business alone before going into partnership with James Butler in 1855. Around 1860 the two briefly shared premises with Clayton and Bell, an association of lasting importance, as the third member of the firm, Robert Turnill Bayne, who was also from Warwick and became chief designer in 1862, was an employee of theirs. Heaton pioneered the use of softer colours, but Bayne’s advent brought the firm to widespread attention. Most of their earlier glass was gothic in style, but the firm adapted to later influences, notably that of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The firm was used widely by Sir Arthur Blomfield, but in later years less of its output was glass for churches. Heaton’s son Clement John joined for a short time, but fell out with his partners. The firm continued until 1953 under descendants of other partners, after which most of its archives were destroyed for lack of interest.

Done