As part of the Divine Beauty project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for Birmingham Cathedral, a team from Recclesia Stained Glass provided a detailed condition report and a fully developed conservation proposal. This was done in collaboration with conservation architects Nick Cox and Kathryn Harris, focusing on the four wonderful Edward Burne-Jones stained glass windows to the East and West ends of the Cathedral.
Widely regarded as some of the finest examples of Victorian stained glass in the world, the windows are also considered to be of exceptional significance within the context of Burne-Jones works of art as a whole. The windows were made by the William Morris studio, later Morris & Co, between 1887 and 1897, and survived the wartime bombing of the church thanks to being removed and stored in a Welsh mine shortly before the firebombs hit the city.
Conservators Jamie Moore, Lee Bilson and Carlotta Cammelli worked alongside the wider project team to put access in place to survey the stained glass and provided a detailed condition report with recommendations for remedial conservation work. Driven by a passionate interest for these windows, Recclesia also delivered a detailed study to reassess the historic significance of the stained glass within the context of Burne-Jones' work and the wider canon of Victorian stained glass, confirming their outstanding significance.
Thanks to our detailed survey work, historical assessment, expert analysis of the stained glass, its significance, and its conservation requirements, the project was awarded £650,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the conservation of these outstanding national treasures.
Project Deliverables
Stained Glass Condition Report
Laser Scanning
Conservation Proposals
Assessment of Significance & Historical Research
Mapped Drawings
Environmental Condition Assessment
Metalwork Condition Report
Protection Proposals & Design