York Residents Festival - Stained Glass Centre by fishers

York Residents Festival - Stained Glass Centre

The Centre is in an old disused church on Micklegate and has a fine display of medieval gIass in some of its windows.

I loved this display showing how stained glass is renovated.

The outline pattern is traced from the original window starting with the positioning of the lead and later adding details of the glass. You can see a leaf pattern at the left of the photo.

When the drawing is complete the window is carefully taken to pieces and each piece of glass is labelled before being cleaned and repaired.

A break in a piece of glass may simply be repaired by adding a lead join. This technique was used a lot in the past.They may replace the broken piece with glass of the same age and colour. Sometimes it may be sandwiched between two fine pieces of clear glass. This sounds simple but it can cause problems with condensation.

Finally the window is put back together using new lead strips and solder. The original drawing is put over a light source to be used as a pattern and guide.

Katharine
I've had several fascinating tours of the various specialist workshops in York. Aren't we lucky to have such historic resources nearby?
January 29th, 2014  
wonderful shot!
January 29th, 2014  
Interesting shapes and designs - and I enjoyed reading about the glass.
January 29th, 2014  
Fascinating stuff Ian - I love this sort of recondite information.
January 29th, 2014  
Beautiful shot of a work in progress and your description is always a learning experience!
January 29th, 2014  
I love stain glass, wish we had more buildings here in NZ with them. Great process explained. Gorgeous shot :)
January 29th, 2014  
A fav, for the great interesting explanation of the reservation. Also for the beautuful pic. of the glaas
January 29th, 2014  
Bob
Great story to go with this process. I did a stained glass once!
January 29th, 2014  
Interesting to find out how they repair stained glass. I bet when all is done, it will still look great again. love this picture.
January 30th, 2014  
Must be quite the place to see
January 30th, 2014  
Stained glass is so beautiful, thanks for the interesting info :)
January 30th, 2014  
Wow, fab shot and so interesting to hear how they manage to repair the glass!
January 30th, 2014  
Interesting shot! xx
January 30th, 2014  
Interesting how it is done. I love the angles and shapes that are formed
January 30th, 2014  
@julieco yes we are so lucky to be in a place with so much history. I have been to the Minster workshops a long time ago when I was doing my teacher training and as a sideline did the training to take school parties around the Minster. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@monkeykid Thank you. I am very interested in Stained glass and live in the right place to see lots of it. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@dolphin Thank you. The workshop was very interesting and I was fortunate in the mid 70's to be taken around the Minster glass workshop by Peter Gibson, an authority on renovation of medevil glass. katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@vignouse Thanks. I like stained glass and have been fortunate to be able to go to lectures and see the work being done on renovation of the East Window of the Minster in the 1970's. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@hshdebbie Thank you. I have been interested in stained glass for a long time. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@silverhorn Thank you. We are rather spoilt in York for medieval glass, I have also liked more modern window in places like Manchester cathedral. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@pyrrhula Thanks Ferry, the fav is much appreciated. I do tend to get carried away with information. katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@bobhuegel Thanks Bob. Do you still have your glass, perhaps post a picture of it? I have a piece made for me by one of the Minster glaziers as a graduation present (1977) Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@bruni Thank you Bruni. The glass has to fit into the same stonework. I find it amazing that after all they do it still goes into place so well. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@bkbinthecity I found it interesting especially as it makes use of one of the disused churches in York. I think they cleaned up for the weekend! Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@pixiemac I'm always interested in glass and love some of the new windows I have seen in other places. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@gillg Thank you. I think repair sounds easier in an explanation than it is in reality. The glaziers are very skilled people. katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@lilminimonka Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
@pjr Thank you. I find the process of repairing stained glass fascinating. Katharine
January 30th, 2014  
Just beautiful lines, shapes, colors and designs.
January 31st, 2014  
@fishers Katharine, I collect Victorian Pressed Glass Celery Vases...I love glass!
January 31st, 2014  
This looks a really interesting place, great pov.
January 31st, 2014  
Bob
@fishers I will take a shot of my stained glass and post it with a bit of background.
January 31st, 2014  
@karenmatthews Thank you. I found it all interesting. Katharine
February 1st, 2014  
@hshdebbie They sound really interesting, perhaps a picture of them will appear soon? I don't collect anything in particular but have glass the girls have bought me that range from bought decorated bottles to wine glasses made by Louise when she painted glass as a hobby. Katharine
February 1st, 2014  
@jrstanier It was a great place to visit. Its nice that so many places opened their doors for residents to see what happens in this city of ours. Katharine
February 1st, 2014  
@bobhuegel I look forward to seeing it and hearing about it. Louise did quite a lot of glass painting when she was younger and we have wine glasses she made for our silver wedding anniversary. Katharine
February 1st, 2014  
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