Repairing the windows
A survey in 2008 exposed serious defects in many of the windows, and after some serious fund-raising and generous help from English Heritage and other charities the work commenced, repairing and in some instances replacing the stonework, replacing glazing bars which had damaged the stone frames, repairing a lot of the plain glazing and, most important of all, renovating and protecting the medieval glass. Closer study reveals that some of this is already a collection of fragments of the original windows smashed during the reformation, but sufficient remains to illustrate the skills of the early craftsmen. The East window in particular has a fine collection of medieval glass, while window nVll in the North transept contains several coats of arms, believed to be of the families who helped fund the expansion of the building in the fourteenth century or so. A history of their ancestry and inter-relationships is available on request. The restoration work was done by Jonathan Cooke in Ilkley, and part of his photographic record is reproduced here along with others taken by Rev'd Gordon Plumb in Barton-on-Humber. The photographs are subject to copyright so please ask if you wish to use them.