Arts and Crafts Angels

Kim Sanderson beneath one of the Pearce windows

People from all over the world worship at or visit St Chrysostom’s. Recently we had a visitor from Vancouver who had an interest in some of our stained glass.

Kim Sanderson is the great granddaughter of Walter Pearce, Manchester stained glass artist who designed the noteable war memorial window in the Anson Chapel and the stunning roundel window of the chapel.

Walter John Pearce (1857 – 1942) was born in Brighton. He became apprenticed to a cabinet maker, then a painter and decorator. By the 1890s he had set up business in Manchester. He had a workshop at 41 Gartside Street, and by the 1920s had moved his business to Wilmslow.

In 1911 he described himself as an artist in stained and decoration, glass and 
mosaic. There are examples of his stained glass (much of it in an art nouveau style)  in several locations in the North West, notably Bury Art Gallery and Museum, Christ Church Denshaw, and St Chrysostom’s. His work is found beyond the North West including a beautiful window in St Mary, Martlesham in Suffolk.

The strident and powerful colours of the Pearce windows in St Chrysostom’s contrast well with the more reserved colours of the Burlison and Gryls sequence.

The Pearce windows are fine representatives of Arts and Crafts Movement windows, with their bold, but clssical designs. The roundel window is both exquisite and playful – with angels busily getting on with their work. The richness and feeling in these windows illustrate well their subjects. In the early evening light the colours of the windows glow brightly in Church adding to the special atmosphere to that time of day.

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