Case Study - St Nicholas and St Mary's Church Stained Glass Window

Programme: Your Heritage
Applicant: St Nicholas and St Mary’s Church PCC, Halewood
Grant awarded: £50,000
Project length: June 2004 - July 2007

St Nicholas & St Mary's church stained glass window - printable (PDF, 811KB)

Summary

This project restored a series of decorative Victorian stained glass windows in a Grade II listed church. The windows were installed in 1874 by [William] Morris & Co. but over the years they had deteriorated, causing pigment loss. The grant allowed 14 windows to be professionally conserved, restoring them to their original condition and protecting them from further damage. Volunteers were recruited and trained to give guided tours to visitors. In addition to tours, open days and special events, the project included the creation of interpretation material to help people learn about the windows and why they are valued.

School teachers also got involved and used the windows to help pupils learn about art and art history. When the conservation work was complete, the applicant organised a celebration event for the community.

The aims of the project

To restore a series of Arts & Crafts stained glass windows
To raise public awareness of the historically significant windows; and
To use the windows to promote an appreciation of history and art history.

Benefits for heritage

The project employed a stained-glass specialist to carry out a programme of conservation work to the windows, which were designed by Morris & Co. and based on drawings by Edward Burne-Jones.
Of 17 windows in the church, 14 were in urgent need of work to prevent irreversible deterioration and pigment loss. Each of these was removed, restored and refitted in turn. Secondary glazing was installed to prevent further deterioration in the future.
Conservation work restored the vibrancy of the original windows and revealed details in the design which had not been visible for many years

Benefits for people

12 volunteers were recruited and trained to give guided talks about the windows and now welcome regular tours, school visits and heritage open days. Self-guiding visitors are able to learn about the windows from new leaflets, display boards and web pages created as part of the project.
Local school pupils make regular visits to St Nicholas Halewood. The windows help them learn about art history and religious studies in sessions which link to the National Curriculum for these subjects.
Over 250 people, including children from the local school and uniformed youth groups, were able to take part in a celebratory event and share in the achievements of the project once the work was completed.
Indeed, the local community were involved in following the progress of the work from the earliest stages, and were kept up to date through newsletters and events. Local people were encouraged and inspired by the project to take an active interest in their local area and its history.

Lessons learnt

Work was delayed because the contractor was over-committed. In future the PCC would take greater care with contracts, to reduce the risk of late completion.

Long term benefits

As part of the application to HLF, the PCC budgeted for the on-going maintenance of the windows from its own funds.
Information about the windows is available on the St Nicholas church website.

The budget

Main Project Costs	£	Funding	£
Conservation work	50,650	Cash from organisation	4,650
		Non-cash contributions	4,200
Total costs	58,850	HLF grant (85%)	50,020

Restoring a stained glass window at St Nicholas & St Mary's church

Restoring the stained glass window

Sector

Buildings and Monuments

Activity

Conservation