Clayton & Bell

Corporate body

Clayton & Bell

1856-1993

The London firm of Clayton and Bell were one of the most successful and prestigious stained glass window makers of the Victorian era.
The company was founded in 1856 by John Richard Clayton (1827-1913), and Alfred Bell (1832-95). John Clayton was a London illustrator and friends with several Pre-Raphaelite artists, most notably Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Alfred Bell, by contrast, was born in Devon, the son of a farm worker. The architect Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) saw some of Bell's drawings in the 1840s and was so impressed that he hired him and trained him in the Gothic Revival style. John Clayton trained as a sculptor under the architect Sir Charles Barry.
Bell initially formed a partnership with Nathaniel Lavers before joining forces with John Clayton and starting a new company in 1855. Sir George Gilbert Scott gave them several commissions and they were very successful very quickly. The mid-Victorian period saw a revitalisation of the Church of England. After centuries of decay, many medieval churches were restored and rebuilt, and there was a growing market for high-quality stained glass windows.
Clayton and Bell initially shared premises with Heaton & Butler. They produced the designs and Heaton & Butler supplied the kiln and the knowledge and expertise to manufacture the glass. Just three years later, in 1861, Clayton and Bell moved into large new premises on Regent Street, where they began to produce their own glass for their own designs. The company's growth was staggering; by the time they moved into their Regent Street premises Clayton and Bell were employing 300 workmen. Clayton and Bell's commercial success was due to the high demand for stained-glass windows at the time, their use of the best-quality glass available, the excellence of their designs and their employment of efficient factory methods of production. Within a few years, the firm had become one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass. By the 1860’s and 1870’s night shifts were worked in order to fulfil the large number of commissions. Clayton and Bell then expanded from designing and making stained glass windows and began designing church murals and entire decorative schemes.
Alfred Bell and John Clayton retired from active participation in company affairs by the 1880s. The company was run by a succession of Bell's heirs; John Clement Bell (1860–1944) was succeeded by Reginald Otto Bell (1884–1950) and then by Michael Farrar-Bell (1911–1993). Unfortunately, the records of Clayton & Bell were largely lost after enemy bombing in World War II. However, their windows can be found throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Among their major commissions, and perhaps the first entire cycle of glass produced in the Victorian era, is the cycle of great scholars produced for the Great Hall of the University of Sydney, designed by the colonial architect Edmund Blacket and based upon Westminster Hall in London. Among their other famous windows are the West Window of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 1878, a very sensitive commission as much ancient glass still existed in the building, and also in Cambridge, a Last Judgement for St. John's College Chapel.
At Truro they were commissioned by John Loughborough Pearson to design windows for the new Cathedral. This work is thought to be amongst the finest Victorian stained glass in England. It tells the story of the Christian Church, starting with the birth of Jesus and finishing with the building of Truro Cathedral. The firm was also commissioned to design mosaics for the new Catholic Cathedral in Westminster, London. The altarpiece for the Chapel of Saints Augustine and Gregory, representing the conversion of England to Christianity is the work of Clayton and Bell, assembled by the Salviati firm from Murano, Italy.
Probably the most significant commission was to design the mosaics for each side and beneath the canopy of the Albert Memorial. This towering monument set on the edge of Hyde Park in London was built to commemorate Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who died in 1861. The firm of Salviati from Murano, Venice, had manufactured the mosaics to Clayton and Bell's designs. The firm of Clayton and Bell was awarded a Royal Warrant by the Queen in 1883.
The company moved from London to Buckinghamshire after WWII and ceased operating after Farrar-Bell's death in 1993.

The Art Biogs website and Britain Express, a British Heritage website.