Stained glass experts play their part in Royal Shakespeare Theatre refurbishment

The second part of the work was the conservation of the stained glass windows in the Swan Room. An 18 light window depicting various members of the cast who performed at the theatre with a memorial window to Sir Frank Benson dressed as King Richard II in the centre top panel. Two sets of three light windows depicting the cast of Macbeth.

Ark Stained Glass & Leaded Lights Ltd were approached to work on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as part of their huge refurbishment project.

Part of the work was to take out a number of leaded lights and steel casements, strip and relead the windows, replacing any broken glass, and restoring the casements.

The second part of the work was the conservation of the stained glass windows in the Swan Room. An 18 light window depicting various members of the cast who performed at the theatre with a memorial window to Sir Frank Benson dressed as King Richard II in the centre top panel. Two sets of three light windows depicting the cast of Macbeth.

The stairway windows leading to the swan room were also included and the Memorial window to the Bensonians who lost their lives in the first world war on the Juliet Balcony needed a small repair and cleaning also.

Using specialist equipment for the conservation of stained glass, all the windows were cleaned before the bars were sealed and repainted black. We then moved on to using a resin to seal any breaks in the painted glass.

Though trickier than using the resin in studio it is not impossible to seal any breaks insitu then return two days later when the resin would have set to tidy up the repairs. This sort of repair is done in conservation as a strap can interfere with the original look of the window. It is also used in restoration on highly detailed pieces such as faces.

For further information visit www.arkstainedglass.co.uk