Margaret Isobel Chilton (1875–1963), born at Clifton, Bristol, was a British stained glass artist and instructor.
Career In the early 1900s she attended the Royal College of Art in London, where she was taught by Christopher Whall. In about 1906 she returned to Bristol where she set up her own stained glass studio. In 1918 she moved to Glasgow to take up a post at the Abbey Studio and taught for a period at the Glasgow School of Art.
In Glasgow Chilton met Marjorie Boyce Kemp (1886–1975) who was a pupil at the Glasgow School of Art and in 1922 she set up in partnership with Kemp and opened a studio at 13a George Street in Edinburgh. After a few years they moved to 12 Queen Street. She was to spend most of her working life in Scotland. She and Kemp worked together on many occasions, always working strictly in accordance with Arts and Crafts movement principles.
She was an Associate member of the Royal College of Art and a member of the Royal West Academy in Bristol. In some instances her windows were made in collaboration with Lowndes & Drury, owned by Mary Lowndes and Alfred J. Drury.
She died on 25 June 1963.
Works in Parish Churches
This is a listing of Margaret Chilton's major works, listed where possible in date order. Where a work was done in collaboration with Marjorie Kemp this is indicated in the text.
ChurchLocationDate(s)Subject, notes and referencesPilton Parish ChurchPilton, SomersetThis was Margaret Chiltons' first commission. A three-light, traceried window has Jesus in the central light. He is holding a lamb and in the other two lights Chilton depicts various sheep. See image below."Women Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement" Catalogue of exhibition organised by the William Morris Gallery Exhibition and Brangwyn Gift in 1985. Retrieved 15 August 2012St John the EvangelistClifton, Bristol, Wiltshire1912A three light window commissioned as a memorial to Jane and Louisa Appleton. Entitled Feed My Lambs, it depicts the risen Jesus with Simon Peter, women and children. The window is now displayed in the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, following the closure of the St John's Church in 1984.St AlbanBristol, Wiltshire1915Chilton designed a window to celebrate completion of the building of the church in 1915. It depicts various craftsmen and the completed church. This church, in the Westbury Park area of Bristol, also holds much stained glass by Arnold Robinson.St. John the BaptistCroydon, Outer London1918Chilton designed a Memorial Window for this church celebrating the service given by the Navy in The Great War. The inscription reads “TO THE GLORY OF GOD TO COMMEMORATE THE HEROIC SERVICE RENDERED BY THE NAVY DURING THE GREAT WAR THIS WINDOW WAS PRESENTED BY W HAROLD AND A GERTRUDE EVE”The window is a six-light window and was made in collaboration with Lowndes & Drury.St AndrewKilbowie, Dunbartonshire1920A two-light window designed by Chilton for this church remembers those who fell in The Great War. Window made by The City Glass Company. It was dedicated on 30 October 1920.St MaryChelsea, Inner London1948Chilton executed a single light window for the South Aisle of this church. The window depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary.