Emneth, St Edmund, Norfolk - Stained Glass
This 1866 memorial window is dedicated to the memory of Charles & Mary Boucher. Designed by William Wailes in a 13th century style. It contains 15 medallions depicting scenes from the life of Christ.
William Wailes (1808-81) was born in Northumberland and in 1838 established a business in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which developed to a considerable size and supplied glass by various designers to churches all over England, though the greatest quantity of their work is to be found in the North East. Wailes, by origin a grocer and also a landscape painter, was interested mainly in the business side and his new approach, which involved making glass on a scale previously unheard of, helped to ensure his success, for it meant he could undercut the prices of his rivals yet prosper. For a few years from 1841 he was A W N Pugin’s preferred glass maker and in the 1850s the expanding business supplied architects like W Butterfield, J L Pearson and H Woodyer. Its designs continued to be firmly gothic after Wailes in 1861 went into partnership with his son-in-law Thomas Rankine Strang (1835-99). Strang was also primarily a businessman, who took over the firm after Wailes died and was in turn followed by his son William Wailes Strang (1867-1942) until it closed in 1914. For much of this later period the main designer is thought to have been T R Strang’s wife, Margaret Janet Strang (1834-1901), who was the daughter of Wailes.
Emneth, St Edmund, Norfolk - Stained Glass
This 1866 memorial window is dedicated to the memory of Charles & Mary Boucher. Designed by William Wailes in a 13th century style. It contains 15 medallions depicting scenes from the life of Christ.
William Wailes (1808-81) was born in Northumberland and in 1838 established a business in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which developed to a considerable size and supplied glass by various designers to churches all over England, though the greatest quantity of their work is to be found in the North East. Wailes, by origin a grocer and also a landscape painter, was interested mainly in the business side and his new approach, which involved making glass on a scale previously unheard of, helped to ensure his success, for it meant he could undercut the prices of his rivals yet prosper. For a few years from 1841 he was A W N Pugin’s preferred glass maker and in the 1850s the expanding business supplied architects like W Butterfield, J L Pearson and H Woodyer. Its designs continued to be firmly gothic after Wailes in 1861 went into partnership with his son-in-law Thomas Rankine Strang (1835-99). Strang was also primarily a businessman, who took over the firm after Wailes died and was in turn followed by his son William Wailes Strang (1867-1942) until it closed in 1914. For much of this later period the main designer is thought to have been T R Strang’s wife, Margaret Janet Strang (1834-1901), who was the daughter of Wailes.