When Lloyd and Smith secured the contract for to total restoration of the East window at St John’s church Birkby, it was immediately evident that there were underling structural problems with the foundations below this beautiful stained glass window. On further investigation it became clear that there had been a complete failure of the exiting drainage system, which in turn had caused ground destabilisation through saturation.

Our first task was to undertake remedial action on the foundations of the East end of the church, this involved the removal of 5 mature trees who’s root systems where also causing further problems within the foundations. Once the trees where removed we brought in heavy plant to carefully excavate down to foundation level at approximately 2.7m deep. Mass concreting and steel work re-enforcement was added to the foundations and a new drainage system was installed.

Only after this work was completed could we set about the restoration of the main window. This involved the careful removal of the historic stained glass, making sure no further damage was caused during removal and transportation. Once all the glass was out we then took detailed measurements and templates to allow us to re-produce an exact replica of the perished East window stone work. The amount of skill and precision required by our draftsman to replicate and produce the precise templates necessary, demanded the very highest degree of knowledge and expertise of our draftsman and team of masons on site.

The production of the new stone work took our highly skilled team of masons approximately 26 weeks to complete, including many hours working overtime to achieve our strict program for completion. Some of the carved sections had a weight in excess of 350Kg which again proved very challenging when working in such a restricted size of window aperture. On completion of the stone work the restored stained glass window was returned to site and fitted back in to its original position. The detailing of this fabulous restoration project has proved that traditional skills incorporating modern techniques can still produce beautiful examples of architecture by our craftsmen of today.

The whole project at St John’s church has proved to be one of exceptional high quality that very few people could replicate, but through the dedication and skills of all involved, this example of the East Window will stand proud for many generations to follow.