Coleshill church’s windows were the last things to be replaced at the 1859 reordering, according to The Builder magazine of 23 July 1859.

It reported that restoration of the church was “so far completed that the edi-fice has been formally opened.

“The east window is of stained glass the subject being the Crucifixion. One window on the north side contains a number of the prophets. and one on the south John the Baptist and several of the disciples. The artists were Messrs. Clayton and Bell, of London. 

“The whole of the stained glass and chromatic illustrations are not yet com-pleted.”

It was worth the wait.  Clayton and Bell were great storytellers in glass who drew on medieval designs and the art of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to create scenes that come alive.

The luminosity, rich colouring and great detail which characterise their de-signs still catch the eye today.

John Clayton was from London. He became an illustrator and friends of several Pre-Raphaelite artists, most notably Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Alfred Bell was born in Devon, the son of a farm worker.

The couple owed their partnership to the eminent Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. Scott saw some of Bell’s drawings in the 1840s and was so impressed that he hired him, and trained him in the then-popular Gothic Revival style.

Most start-ups struggle, and the church’s windows must have been a big step up.  Scott gave them several commissions, and they never looked back.

Their timing was perfect: the mid-Victorian period saw a revitalisation of the Church of England. After centuries of decay, many medieval churches were restored and rebuilt (as was ours), and there was a growing market for high-quality stained glass windows.

Clayton and Bell initially shared premises with Heaton & Butler. They pro-duced the designs but Heaton & Butler actually manufactured the glass. 

The partners must have learned a lot about making glass, for in 1861 they moved into spacious new premises on Regent Street, where they began to produce their own glass to their own designs.

Within a few years, the firm had become the largest and most prolific manu-facturers and designers of stained glass windows in England. 

Their window depicting the Good Samaritan in the lady chapel is dedicated

to “the glory of God and in memory of his ancestors who for five genera-tions from father to son practised as surgeons and apothecaries in Coleshill John Barker FRCS Eng and LSA who has also exercised the profession of medicine and surgery for 50 years in this town dedicates this window Octo-ber 28 1879.”

The section pictured here shows a banner on a staff over the usual Clayton and Bell porch, with a star and crescent on it.  Why the star and crescent?  What were Clayton and Bell trying to tell us?

The Camm window in the south west corner of the church shows the 

adoration of the magi, and records the work done by the Digbys. x

It begs another question.  Why was that one not done by Clayton and Bell, too?

The new guide book, on sale at £5, shows some of the windows.  Better still, see them for yourself when the church is next open.