Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Heaton, Clement
HEATON, CLEMENT (1824–1882), glass-painter and decorator, son of James Heaton, a Wesleyan minister, was born at Bradford, Wiltshire, in 1824. He spent his early years in commerce, but occupied his leisure with drawing. The so-called Gothic revival encouraged him in his twenty-sixth year to begin business at Warwick as a glass-painter and designer. Shortly afterwards he came to London and founded the firm of Heaton & Butler. Though chiefly occupied with glass-painting, he gave the initiative to a new and extensively adopted style of church-decoration. This was essentially Gothic in style, but he combined his own original conceptions with carefully studied motives from natural history, heraldry, early Christian symbolism, &c. He made great use of line-decoration, and as his colouring improved by practice, he acquired a peculiar style, which was much admired at the time. He made many experiments to insure permanent and trustworthy colours for glass-painting and mural decoration, but they were checked by his sudden death in 1882. Among his principal works, many of which were carried out in conjunction with Sir Arthur Blomfield as architect, were the decoration of the chapel at Trinity College, Cambridge, Eaton Hall, the town halls at Rochdale and Manchester, the Mansion House and Merchant Venturers' Hall at Bristol, and churches at Banbury, All Saints, Ascot, West Newton, and Sandringham.
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