Bill's Work - Designs

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Introduction

Introduction

Bill's Lecture

Early Days
(Lagos, Oldbury,Langley)

Lye & Stambermill

Oldswinford & Stourbridge

Brierley Hill

Cradley Heath, Cradley & Dudley

Wollescote & Kinver

Additional Material

Designs

Other Works

Bill at Work

Summary

The Good Samaritan

This page and the previous two pages are typical examples of the process of designing a stained glass window. 

It shows the individual panes of glass, decorated and lettered as appropriate, and the way in which they are joined together using lead channelling. 

Once the design was finalised it would be transferred to a full scale sheet of paper (lining paper was often used).  This would allow the lead to be cut to shape and the glass cut to fit. 

Each glass panel would then be painted and fired to give the vibrant colours associated with these windows. 

The final stage is to put the whole assembly together, soldering the lead in place and sealing the lead with a cement to make it waterproof.

From the 'Stourbridge Stained Glass Works' flier

St Peter’s Cradley
County Express report 1934

Six other Chancel windows at St Peter’s Cradley
Made by Bill Pardoe

In 1925 Bill set up his new business—’The Stourbridge Stained Glass Works’ located just off Lye High Street.  His first big order was from Tooby builders who were building some 200 new houses and needed glass panels to put into the front door as was expected at that time.  Bill used his glazing design book as an example of what he could produce.

The illustrations above are examples of two pages from Bill's design book

This panel was one of the first he made.  It was a present to his mother who lived at 175 High Street Lye.  It stood in their front door until Bill’s parents died in the early 1940s and the house was sold.  He took out the panel and kept the centrepiece as a memory of his early work. 

It depicts Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

From Bill's sketchbook