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Stained glass window on show after restoration

Neve Gordon-Farleigh
BBC News, Norfolk
Martha Infray A man wearing a fluorescent hi-vis jacket and helmet is working on a stained glass window. The window is at the top of a staircase and the man is outside the building on scaffolding.Martha Infray
Containing 13 panels, the glass used within the window comes from countries in north-west Europe as well as locally in England

A four-month conservation project to restore a stained glass window has been completed.

The window is the centre piece of the stairwell at the Elizabethan House Museum in Great Yarmouth.

The museum says the window is unusual because it contains both locally-sourced and foreign glass, including from several countries in north-west Europe.

Johanna Jones, curator at Norfolk Museums Service, said: "We are delighted to see the return of the stunning stained glass."

The window contains 13 sections including panels made from 16th and 17th centuries, with glass from the low countries and some from the cloister of Premonstratensian Abbey of Steinfeld in the Eifel region of Germany.

The low countries usually refers to Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Set within a timber frame dating back to the late 19th or early 20th Century, the window was last reglazed in 1952.

Martha Infray The stained glass window which is set within a timber frame. There are various colours - mostly blue and yellow - and various pictures, including of angel figures.Martha Infray
The last time the window was reglazed was in 1952 and it was hoped the work would extend its lifespan
Martha Infray A man wearing a grey jumper and grey gloves is working on the stained glass window.Martha Infray
The window was reinstalled at the Elizabethan House Museum in Great Yarmouth in February

The window was reinstalled and special glazing was fitted to the outside of the glass to protect it from the weather and condensation.

Martha Infray, a National Trust conservator, said scaffolding needed to be put up around the museum to remove seven of the windows panels.

The project has been a collaboration between the National Trust, Norfolk Museums Service - run by Norfolk County Council - and conservators from Holy Well Glass in Somerset.

It was funded through the trust's remedial conservation fund.

Ms Jones, said: "Not only has this project restored and conserved this historic window for perpetuity but it has also enabled us to transform how we plan to interpret the histories of the building for our younger audiences."

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