The national significance of two stained glass institutions has been recognised in recent grants by the National Lottery.
Fig. 1. Virgin from the Annunciation, from the church of St John the Baptist, Hadzor (Worcs), now at the Stained Glass Museum.
In Ely, the Stained Glass Museum, the only museum dedicated to stained glass in the UK, has received a grant of £88,000 from the HLF Resilient Heritage scheme to help it form a future plan for the Museum. The Project ‘Windows onto the future’ will investigate options and produce a masterplan for the museum’s future development. The project has been made possible by money raised by National Lottery players and will begin in April 2018. For more information see the Museum’s full press release at www.stainedglassmuseum.com/news.html.
Fig. 2. Detail from the exceptional ‘Pricke of Conscience’ window, showing the death of all living things, at All Saints North Street.
In York, All Saints church on North Street, has been awarded more than £99,000 to kickstart the preservation and restoration of its spectacular collection of stained glass windows. Dating largely from the first half of the fifteenth century, the All Saints glazing numbers among the finest monuments in city of exceptional medieval stained glass. Ultimately, the church is seeking to raise more than £500,000 to undertake a comprehensive restoration and preservation programme, but will use this initial round of funding to install isothermal glazing to protect the medieval glazing. The All Saints website contains a range of images of and information that provide a glimpse of the kind of glass to be found at the church.