Stained glass restoration and conservation from the Williams & Byrne stained glass studio
Your assurance
 The studio’s work with stained glass windows is overseen by David Williams who is accredited to ICON, the United Kingdom Institute of Conservation. You can find the studio itself on the Conservation Register, where it is included on the basis of the excellent testimonies from its many clients.
Our professionalism
Stained glass restoration and conservation is something that the Williams & Byrne studio takes great interest in. The studio always follows recommended principles. For example, we document our work professionally, and, wherever possible, we ensure that the remedial course we follow is reversible and non-destructive.
We always search for glass that matches the original in colour, tone, thickness and texture. We can even have glass especially made for you if this is what it takes to do the work properly.
 Through an excellent combination of fine painting skills on the one hand and a detailed understanding of chemical processes on the other, we get painterly effects that are often indistinguishable from the broken or missing pieces. For example, our Victorian stained glass conservation and restoration projects often use oil as the primary medium, as favoured by many of the greatest painters from the Victorian era.
Most important of all, we use our experience and knowledge to act in the best interests of your glass. With our conservation skills, this means we do not undertake work merely for the sake of it.
We take the utmost care over all our restoration and conservation projects, and we enjoy working with church bodies, architects and heritage bodies to restore and conserve their antique stained glass windows.
 An example of our care: we were entrusted to conserve a magnificent set of windows by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. Carefully examining each piece of glass within the whole east window, we found the name of the head-painter and the date of painting. Scratched into the shadow on a robe, this had been lost from the records for more than a hundred years: G. B. Campfield in 1893.
 Private Homes
We undertake fabulous restoration and conservation work in private homes.
Skills
These are the main activities that we undertake to conserve or restore your glass:
- Painting, enamelling and silver-staining in any style for restoration work.
- Also acid-etching and sand-blasting and fire-polishing.
- Edge-bonding, copper foiling, strapping, cleaning for conservation work.
- Re-leading as required (and only if required).
- Removal and re-installation of damaged glass.
- Conservation/damage reports for architects, church bodies, heritage bodies and insurers.
Recent Work
Here are images of our recent stained glass conservation and restoration work.
Are you interested in our fabulous glass painting techniques? Then you can read about them here: Glass Painting Techniques & Secrets from an English Stained Glass Studio by David Williams and Stephen Byrne. This book explains our method of mixing paint, shading before tracing, and painting with oil on top of unfired water-based paint. All of these skills are essential when restoring ancient glass. Download our photo-packed book from here.
David Williams is an accredited member of ICON the Institute of Conservation
and the studio is listed on the Conservation Register.
Williams & Byrne
Designers, Painters & Restorers of Glass
for professional stained glass restoration and conservation
Telephone +44 (0) 1584 856724
Williams & Byrne Limited, Church Farm Studios, Stanton Lacy, Near Ludlow, Shropshire, UK, SY8 2AE
E-mail studio@williamsandbyrne.com |
