Restoration work and National Lottery Heritage Fund projects 2020
the great East Window
What a year to try and deliver a restoration project! Well, with thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, our architect, contractors, and our Heritage Officer, we have managed to pull through.
Whilst certain aspects of our project have gone to plan, others were sadly forced to be put on hold.
Whilst we work towards bringing you the final instalments, here is an update of what has happened so far…
Shortly before lockdown, a number of our volunteers accompanied by our Heritage Officer made a visit to the archive in Bury St Edmunds to view some of the documents pertaining to our church. They had a great time sifting through records and even came across a few familiar names!
Aspire Aerial Media have been fantastic in helping us bring to life the story of All Saints. Using a drone, they have been able to capture different elements of the building that are not accessible, or if they are, then not easily viewed from eye level.
They have created a wonderful 3D model for us which will be used in an upcoming virtual tour.
We were able to run 2 hard hat events – but then the pandemic came crashing down on top of us!!!
The contractors, despite the rest of the country shutting down, were able to continue with work to the North and East windows and make repairs to the external flint work.
template for North window panel
As lockdown restrictions started to ease, our Heritage Officer made a solo trip to visit the glazier’s studios.
quarries in leadwork
Whilst there they created two videos (which can be viewed on our Facebook page) so that we were able to view the intricacies surrounding the repair and restoration of our beautiful windows.
quarry with glazier's writing
Whilst cleaning up a few of the quarries (the individual panes of glass) a few unexpected features appeared.
During this time when the restoration work was going on, several discoveries were made, from Anglo-Dutch War graffiti to etchings of names within the stained glass window quarries.
During the next lockdown we were able to run an online lecture, given by John Oxley FSA, on the history of stained glass. We had a fantastic turn out, but don’t worry if you missed it, here’s the 
Before Christmas 2021 our Heritage Officer accompanied by Bellevue Studio made the trip to come and take some more professional photographs for our new publication – there are some very exciting discoveries which are difficult to see from the ground.