Left: Whole window. Right: The central lights, depicting God the creator, and scenes from the creation. [Click on all the images to enlarge them.]

The West Window of St Augustine's, Kilburn, London NW6, by Clayton and Bell (see listing text), possibly designed by James Loughborough Pearson. The magnificent rose window of this cathedral-like Anglo-Catholic church depicts the Creation above Old Testmanent Prophets and was installed in 1890 (see Eberhard). The central part of the rose window depicts God the creator, and scenes from the creation (from top left): the birds of the air and water (including a swan), the animals (a lion and a deer), the vegetation (including the snake, ominously twining round a central tree), and the fish of the sea. The heavenly bodies revolve around them in the smaller lights: a crescent moon, a planet, a shooting star or comet, and so on.

The Old Testament Prophets in the lower lights.

The prophets shown are Abraham, Isaac, Melchisedec, Moses and Aaron. Abraham is shown in a larger version on the right here.

The west window is one of the glories of the church. In the first place, it is wonderfully framed: as the listing text says, "West end with rose window set in great niche flanked by large square spired turrets." Then, the detail in each of the lights is amazing, with admiring cherubim surrounding each stained glass roundel in the rose window itself, and appropriate scenes below the figures of the prophets. For example, below Abraham is the episode of the three angels to whom Abraham extends hospitality in Genesis 18. The colour too is brilliant, with a good deal of sparking, ruby-like red.

You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.

Related Material

Bibliography

Howard, Clare, and Simon Taylor. "The church and chapel interiors of John Loughborough Pearson: A selective assessment of significance." Research Report Series 26-2016. Downloadable from here. Historic England. Web. 25 April 2021.

Eberhard, Robert. Church of St Augustine, Kilburn, Inner London. Church Stained Glass Windows. Web. 25 April 2021.

List Entry: Church of St Augustine, Kilburn Park Road, London NW6. Historic England. Web. 25 April 2021.



Created 25 April 2021