Karl Bergemann Parsons[a] (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.

In September 1904 he began teaching at the Central School, initially as one of Whall's assistants and then as principal teacher of stained glass.

In 1908 he worked with Whall on the design and execution of apse windows for Cape Town Cathedral and in that year set up his own studio at the Glass House in Fulham.

[f] Whall had similarly benefitted from close ties to the likes of the architects John Dando Sedding and Henry Wilson.

The Great War saw many of the Glass House staff leave to do military service and in 1916 Parsons himself was conscripted into the Army but was not posted overseas.

As a teacher, Parsons was, like Whall before him, to inspire several of his pupils to become stained glass artists, including Lilian Pocock, Joseph Edward Nuttgens and Herbert Hendrie.

[h] After the war there was a boom in demand for stained glass, particularly with many memorial windows being commissioned and Parsons appointed Edward Liddall Armitage[i] as an assistant and later Leonard Potter.

1924 saw Parsons make what was to prove a seminal visit to Chartres where, with his brother Ambrose, he carried out a detailed study of medieval glass.

There he set up a studio at Ropewind Farm where he converted a mid-18th century three-bay barn, adding a large, porch-like window to let in natural light on the north side.

He also incorporated a small granary on unusual brick and timber staddles thus converting it into a larger purpose-built storage building and garage, giving access directly from Rivar Road.

His health deteriorated and finally, in 1933, he had to return to London, took a flat in Putney and worked for a while with his friend Edward Woore.