St Michael slaying the dragon over the City (detail)

Martin Travers (1886-1948)

1915

Richard Norman Shaw's St Michael and All Angels

Bedford Park, Turnham Green, London W4

Entire window

St Michael and All Angels

West side of church, with parish hall

The church interior, looking north-west

The first stained glass windows in St Michael & All Angels were designed by Daniel Bell, whose brother was Alfred Bell of the famous Victorian firm of Clayton and Bell. They were installed in 1887. Unfortunately the great East Window was destroyed in World War II, and has had to be replaced. Of all the windows, this one by a somewhat later stained-glass artist, Martin Travers, is the most dramatic. It shows St Michael raising his sword to slay a particularly fiery dragon over the City of London. Travers had worked with the architects Arthur Beresford Pite and Sir Ninian Comper, and had Anglo-Catholic and Aesthetic sympathies; he was a leading early twentieth-century stained glass artist. The subject, as well as being appropriate to a church dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, would have had a particular resonance for wartime Londoners. Notice St Paul's in the left-hand corner.

Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. [You may use this 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.]

Related Material

• Entire window
• St Michael and All Angels
• The west side of the church, with parish hall
• The church interior, looking north-west

Source

The Parish of St Dunstan with Holy Angels (includes an appreciation of Travers).

St Michael & All Angels Church, Bedford Park: History of the Building. Detailed and well illustrated chronology available at the church.

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Last modified 30 September 2008