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Clayton & Bell (1855-1993)

Stained glass firm founded in London by John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell. Within a few years the firm occupied a leading place in stained glass design and manufacture. Exceedingly prolific, and although usually of high standard, the 'production line' approach was beginning to show by the mid 1860s, by which time the firm was established in Regent Street with 300 employees. The firm was also prominent in the creation of decorative schemes and murals for churches. In the 1880s the two founders withdrew from active participation and Alfred Bell's eldest son, John Clement, eventually took over the firm after his partnership with John Essex Clayton. Successive generations kept the firm going until the death of Michael Farrar Bell in 1993.

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	Scenes from the Life of St Anne and the Virgin Mary restorer: Clayton & Bell 1498, restored in 1872 Church of All Saints, Gresford, Wrexham east wall of the Lady Chapel (window number: nII)
	Te Deum and Tree of Jesse restorer: Clayton & Bell 1500, restored in 1867 Church of All Saints, Gresford, Wrexham east wall of the chancel (window number: I)
	Medieval Fragments including Scenes from the Lives of St John the Baptist and St Anthony restorer: Clayton & Bell early sixteenth century, restored in 1915-16 Church of All Saints, Gresford, Wrexham east end of the south aisle chapel (Trevor, or St Catherine's, Chapel) (window number: sII)
	Virgin and Child with the Burial of Sarah firm/studio: Clayton & Bell about 1860 Church of St David, Merthyr Tydfil south wall of the sanctuary
	The Crucifixion and Last Supper firm/studio: Clayton & Bell about 1865 Church of St Llonio, Llandinam, Powys east wall of the chancel
	The Risen Christ with Saints firm/studio: Clayton & Bell about 1866 Church of St Catwg, Llangattock, Powys east wall of the chancel
	Scenes and Characters from the Bible firm/studio: Clayton & Bell 1868 Eglwys Oen Duw, Beulah, Powys west wall of the nave
	Prophets and Evangelists firm/studio: Clayton & Bell patron: Henry James and Magaret Bath (family) about 1870 Church of the Holy Trinity, Pont-ar-gothi, Carmarthenshire nave
	Scenes from the Gospels with the Twelve Disciples firm/studio: Clayton & Bell about 1870 Church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbey Cwmhir, Powys west wall (window number: wI)
	St Perpetua firm/studio: Clayton & Bell about 1872 Church of St Gastyn, Llangasty-Talyllyn, Powys south wall of the nave

William Waters, Angels & Icons: Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass 1850–1870 (Abbots Morton: Serapim Press, 2012), pp. 41–121.

'Clayton and Bell' Journal of the British Society of Master Glass-Painters, vol. iv, no. 3 (1932), 142–5.

Peter Larkworthy, Clayton and Bell, Stained Glass Artists and Decorators (London: The Ecclesiological Society, 1984).

Birkin Haward, Nineteenth Century Suffolk Stained Glass (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1989), pp. 153–5.

Martin Harrison, Victorian Stained Glass (London: 1980), pp. 29–33 and further references.