Selby Abbey North Yorkshire

Protection of Stained Glass

The great Norman Abbey at Selby was founded by William the Conqueror in 1069 and is one of the few monastic foundations to have survived both the Reformation and the Civil war. However, the ravages of time have taken their toll and in 2002, Selby Abbey was included in the World Monuments Watch List of The World’s 100 Most Endangered Historic Sites. A major programme of fund-raising and restoration work has been continuing since then.

As part of the major restoration project on the East End of the Abbey, Barley Studio were asked to provide mechanical protection to each of the windows to the east of the main crossing, including the Great East window and the windows of the North and South choir aisles. As the stonework was undergoing major restoration work at the same time, it was necessary to work closely with the stonemasons to ensure a good fit to the newly restored openings.

Two windows contain medieval glass: the east window of the War Memorial Chapel (window sVI) contains fourteenth- century heraldic glass originating from the tracery openings of other south aisle windows, and the easternmost window of the north aisle (window nIII) contains panels associated with the Great East window, including some original fourteenth-century glass. These windows required environmental protection, to prevent further deterioration of the glass through weathering, as well as mechanical protection. They were therefore provided with internally ventilated ‘isothermal’ external environmental protective glazing (EPG) in kiln-distorted (Barley Bent) glass.

All of the windows were fitted with wire guards, fabricated in stainless steel of weld mesh size 3” x ½” x 12swg. This mesh is strong enough to provide good mechanical protection from stones or other missiles, whilst still being fine enough that the guards are reasonably unobtrusive. Each guard was individually made to fit within the stonework reveal of the window opening, and powder coated to a black finish. The guards were screw fixed using black coated stainless steel clips, specially made to our own design to be as discreet as possible and requiring minimal intervention to the stonework.

Although the addition of wire guards does change the external appearance of the building, making the guards as unobtrusive as possible and taking a consistent approach to the building both help to maintain the external aesthetic. Our wire guards are now providing mechanical protection to every window at the East End of the Abbey.