The Church of St. Thomas the Martyr,
Winchelsea, E. Sussex.

Between 1929–1933, nine magnificent windows by DOUGLAS STRACHAN (1875-1950) were installed in this Sussex church.

1. Close-up of damaged area, boarded up. Broken area: approx. 14" × 24" | 360mm × 600mm

2. Overview of the restored window. Our repaired panel is at the bottom, second right.

3. Fragments in our studio for sorting.

4. The restored panel, which we installed in December 2003.

One window, in the Lady Chapel, was severely damaged in 2002. A large area was destroyed and more than 50 pieces of painted glass were were shattered, most of them beyond repair.

Fortunately, church officers ensured that the fragments were collected up and retained. This turned out to be crucial to the successful restoration of this window, as the photographic record was very limited.

In February 2003 we received instructions to proceed with the restoration, and the panel was reinstated in May 2003.

Winchelsea itself is well worth a visit, with the added bonus of a very good tea room. The ancient church is fascinating, the glass is heroic, the surrounding countryside lovely and Rye is just next door if you have any time left over.

Click on the pictures (1 - 31kb, 2 - 71kb, 3 - 73kb, 4 - 84kb) to see more detail.
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