Continuing on from last year’s restoration of the South Transept, this year we tackled the North.
Equally impressive in scale and beauty, it was a pleasure to get lost in the fantastic details in the painting and glass selection. From the masterful silver stained flames to the subtle ripples in the water around a moving oar, we never tired of looking at these windows.
Having gone through the process with the South side last year, we had all of our systems in place to carefully and successfully execute the removal, down to numbering each support bar that was custom bent around faces, hands and beards. Then on to the studio for extensive documentation of each panel and meticulous disassembly.
As with the South Transept, there were very few broken pieces of glass. Knowing that the window will be protected with new vented laminated glass, the small number of repairs were done with silicone edge-gluing or copper foil. Repairs complete, we went on to the rebuild, relying on our documentation to ensure that we followed the original leading scheme as closely as possible.
Soldering, puttying, final cleaning and tie wires each followed in turn until we were ready to reinstall this summer. Now all 33 panels are in place and looking stunning. It cannot be overstated how honored we are to have been entrusted with this work and how grateful we are to have had such lovely partners to work with at First Church.
