East window, library

William Peckitt (1731-1795) and others

Ripon Cathedral, N. Yorkshire

Heraldic stained glass

This shows enamelled arms moved from the Cathedral's original east window, which Peckitt had designed, with additions by Jacob Wright of Leeds (fl. c.1775-1814) or William Willement, or both. Names are given below each shield. [Click on the image to enlarge it; commentary continues below.]

Photograph by Colin Price, by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter. Text and formatting by Price and Jacqueline Banerjee.

[You may use the image 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.]

The devices include those for (arch)bishops with diocesan arms: party per pale with family arms: crossed keys for York, crossed swords for London, cross for Durham. Crests include eagle displayed, boar’s head, tree fructed, mullets (spurs) and a number of mitres; charges include lozenges, birds, beasts, inescutcheon, crossed tusks.

This, then, is an example of an older heraldic window, of the sort that was executed by early Victorian stained glass designers like Willement, but went out of fashion soon afterwards. Peckitt's work itself often seems to have been replaced and sometimes (as in this case) moved to a less conspicuous window. Not much is known about Wright, to whom additions are attributed by John Brighton (562). He is usually referred to as "Wright of Leeds." The attribution of supplementary glass to Willement seems much more likely. It comes in the Cathedral's own book about the windows (in the heading of the reproduction of the window in Plate 20). Besides, the cathedral's new east window was installed in 1854, so the old glass is unlikely to have been moved and augmented while Wright was alive.

William Peckitt himself was born in Husthwaite, a village in North Yorkshire, and became widely recognised and patronised for his skill in such window designs, executed for his highly-placed clientele. He remained in York, but such glass went out from his studio to churches, cathedrals, college chapels and libraries and so on all over the country. It is interesting to know that his wife, Mary, the daughter of a "carver and gilder" (Cust and Brighton), helped him in his work, and painted the window in St Martin-cum-Gregory, York, the church where he was buried.

Related Material

• Ripon Cathedral

Bibliography

Brighton, John Trevor. The Enamel Glass-Painters of York: 1585 - 1795 3 Vols. Vol. 2. 1978. Unpublished thesis presented to the University of York (see the catalogue of Peckitt's work, 288 ff.).

Cust, L. H., and Trevor Brighton. "Peckitt, William (bap. 1731, d. 1795), glass-painter." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 28 September 2021.

Hanson, Malcolm. Glory in Glass: The Windows of Ripon Cathedral. The Dean and Chapter of Ripon Cathedral, 2012 (unnumbered pages).

Sprakes, Brian. "The Coat of Arms of John Charles Brooke. Somerset HeraldVidimus. Web. 28 September 2021.

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Victorian
Web

Visual
Arts

Stained
Glass

Various
Artists

Created 28 September 2021