Damage to church windows is 'in six figures'

A man working to conserve a fire-stricken church's stained glass windows said it would cost "hundreds of thousands of pounds" to restore them to their former glory.

Fire crews were called to St John the Baptist Church on Broad Street in Harleston, Norfolk, on 1 October following an accidental fire in its kitchen.

Significant internal damage means repairs, including restoring the stained glass windows, deep cleaning soot and reinstalling electrics, could take up to two years.

Terry Devlin, of Devlin Plummer stained glass, which is working on the restoration, said: "To have a window completely destroyed where the glass has melted, and all the lead has gone, I've never seen that happen before."

Furniture, including chairs and the lectern, was removed to be cleaned ahead of the building work starting.

Options were also being explored, including laser cleaning, in an attempt to preserve the history and aesthetic of the 19th Century building.

Repair costs, which have not been confirmed, will be funded by insurance.

The stained glass west window has been removed to clean off layers of soot.

Last conserved 15 years ago, Mr Devlin said the windows should have lasted up to 150 years; however, not all of them were able to be saved.

He said: "We've got to retain as much of the original detail as possible, so where all the glass is fire-damaged and cracked, we've got to edge bond all that back together.

"We conserved that [west] window 15 years ago... now to see it destroyed again sometime later is heartbreaking."

He estimated it would take one year to work on the west window alone, and the window in the kitchen would need to be remade completely.

Mr Devlin described the church as one of the best kept in Norfolk.

"Within a couple of years, they'll have the church back to its original self and be in use again," he said.

Dating back to the 1870s, the church is one of seven under the collective Benefice of Redenhall with Scole, across the Waveney Valley.

Architect Ruth Brennan said fans were being used to dry out the damp inside the building.

She added: "The roof is badly damaged because the fire brigade punched holes in it to let the smoke out and let the water in. The roof is badly charred... all the electrics and heating were destroyed, so we need those done and a lot of the stained glass, unfortunately, was very badly damaged, and some of it has been destroyed."

However, she is optimistic the church can be restored to its former glory.

"Whoever built this really built it with love and spent a lot of money on it," she continued.

"It's got some beautiful décor, it's a lovely size, it's well-loved, and until the fire, it was beautifully kept and well cared for."

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