The Victorian panel over our door went away in pieces and came back true. The replacement quarries were matched from their own salvaged stock; we cannot tell which panes are new.
Plate 01 — Afternoon light through a restored leaded panel; limewashed wall, York workshop
Fothergill & Daughters
Glaziers · York · est. 1974
The craft — works manual, extract
What a leaded light is
A leaded light is a window made of separate panes, each held in an H-section strip of milled lead called a came. The joints are soldered where the cames cross, and the finished panel is cemented — putty worked under the leaves of the lead — so the window stands weathertight without a bead of sealant anywhere in it.
Leaded lights fail slowly. Lead fatigues, cement dries out, panels bow away from their fixings. A bowed panel is rarely a lost panel: taken back to the bench, it can be opened, rebuilt on its original cutline in new lead, and reinstated with the glass it was born with.
That has been the work of this firm since 1974 — leaded light restoration, stained glass repair and conservation, and new leaded lights, all of it cut and built in our own York workshop.
Glossary — from the works sheet
- Came
- Milled lead strip, H-shaped in section, that carries each pane. Matched like-for-like in repair.
- Crown glass
- Glass spun by hand into a disc, giving the swim and bullseye of period windows. Salvaged and held in stock.
- Cementing
- Putty cement brushed under the leaves of the came, then blacked off. What makes a panel weathertight.
- Horseshoe nails
- Flat-sided nails that pin the panel to the bench while it is built. They leave no mark on the glass.
Services — entries 01–04
Schedule of works
-
Leaded light restoration
- Panels removed and templated on site
- Rebuilt on the bench to the original cutline
- Original glass retained; new lead; traditional cement
- Reinstated and pointed within the existing frame
Plate 03 — Reinstatement of a restored light; stone mullion, listed building -
Stained glass conservation and repair
- Cleaning, edge-bonding and plating of painted glass
- Like-for-like repair; nothing overpainted
- Listed and ecclesiastical buildings
Plate 04 — Painted glass under conservation at the bench -
Condition surveys
- Photographed, panel-by-panel record of lead, glass and cement
- Written report issued before any work is quoted
- For churchwardens, trusts and conservation officers
Plate 05 — Survey record in progress; panel report before works -
New leaded lights, designed and made
- Made to pattern for Georgian and Victorian openings
- Every pane cut in our own workshop
- Crown and cylinder glass from stock
Plate 06 — New quarries cut to pattern over the cutline
Also entered — protective secondary glazing for historic windows; crown and cylinder glass supplied from stock. Particulars on enquiry.
1974–2026 — the works ledger
Fifty-two years, entered
Fifty-two years reduce to a short column when entered without adjectives.
- 1974 Workshop opened, York. Leaded light repair and re-leading.
- 1982 First church commission entered; parish work in North Yorkshire since.
- 1989 Stock of salvaged period glass begun; crown and cylinder panes held against future repairs.
- 1997 Trade entered to the second generation.
- 2008 Condition surveys, photographed, made standard practice before all works.
- 2016 Trade entered to the daughters; third generation at the bench.
- 2026 Fifty-second year. Every pane still cut on the premises.
The work, in place
Panels in place
Photographed as they live, in the buildings that hold them. Every trace of colour on this page arrives the way it arrives in these rooms — as light through the glass.
Google — recorded opinions
The record of opinion
Recorded opinions, Google listing
96 entries · 4.7 of 5
The condition report photographed every panel before a tool was lifted. Our architect called it the clearest survey he had seen.
Dust sheets down at eight, swept out by half past four, and a note left of exactly what had been done. Method throughout.
They argued us out of replacing the glass and repaired it instead. The draught has gone, and the glass is the one the house was built with.
Excerpts from ninety-six opinions recorded against the firm's Google listing.
For churchwardens, trusts and conservation officers
Specification
- Firm
- Fothergill & Daughters Glass Ltd · established 1974 · third generation
- Trade
- Heritage glazing and stained glass, York; leaded lights a speciality
- Works
- Leaded light restoration · stained glass conservation and repair · new leaded lights · listed-building glazing · protective secondary glazing for historic windows · condition surveys
- Method
- Panels rebuilt on the bench to the original cutline; traditional putty cement; like-for-like lead sections
- Glass
- Every pane cut in our own York workshop; salvaged period glass matched from stock; crown and cylinder glass supplied
- Reporting
- Condition reports with photographs before work begins
- Insurance
- £5,000,000 public liability
- Record
- 4.7 of 5 across 96 recorded opinions
- Buildings
- Listed, ecclesiastical, Georgian and Victorian domestic
- Geography
- Works served from the York workshop
- Hours
- Mon–Thu 08:00–16:30 · Fri 08:00–13:00
Correspondence
Enquiries
Works are quoted after inspection; surveys arranged by appointment.