Restoration of the north aisle windows

August 2025

The three windows in the north aisle have long been in need of repair and restoration. All of them had multiple broken and missing leaded lights. The leading throughout was weak and the outside ferramenta bars badly corroded and, in places, extremely worn and thin. In addition, the some of the stonework was missing or damaged. The result of all the wear and damage was the ingress of water into the building and cold draughts through the missing panes of glass.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund quite unexpectedly offered us some funding towards the resilience of our bell project as we had a small underspend. This presented us with the opportunity to look towards getting the windows repaired and restored. Further grants have been sought and we are grateful to the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust and The Ganzoni Trust who have made funding available.

The search for a contractor for this specialist work took quite a while. A stonemason was also required. However, eventually we received the necessary permissions from the Diocese and appointed the contractors in May.

Work began in June with the removal of the glass from the windows. This was transported to the glazier’s workshop for cleaning, repair and where necessary replacement with matching restoration glass. Currently the stonemason is carrying out the preparation work, cutting out all the damaged stone which will be replaced. The stone will be ordered from the quarries and replaced in due course. Once this has been completed, the glazier will return to refit the glass and the iron bars. We are hoping that the work will be completed in early October.

The window under repair in the workshop