Thomas Willement was the leading exponent of heraldic stained glass working in Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century. He researched medieval methods of stained glass making, reviving techniques which had gone out of use during the eighteenth century, and worked closely with Pugin on principles of Gothic revival architecture and decoration.

Willement’s work and stylistic and philosophical affiliations accorded closely with the tastes of Sewell and Singleton, so it was natural that they should seek him out to commission new work. Singleton had already admired Willement’s work at Monro’s school at Harrow Weald which he visited on March 23rd. In addition, Sir George Bowyer had given heraldic stained glass to the parish church of Radley village in 1840. This was installed by Willement, who may have been responsible for the glass itself. However, the works for Sewell and Bowyer are not recorded in Willement’s daybooks. Singleton and Sewell bought considerable quantities of old and new stained glass much of it was installed in the new chapel and in other buildings around the new college, but a significant amount was surplus to requirement and went into storage. Consequently, Willement’s work for Radley College has never been satisfactorily identified: the most likely candidates are a sequence of six heraldic and one figurative light installed in the east wall of the building which became the Schoolroom.