Your specialist in leaded lights
You can trust the leaded lights specialists at Vitrail Studios. Based in Morpeth, we design, manufacture and repair leaded lights for a range of properties including domestic homes, commercial properties, churches and museums. We serve customers across Northumberland, Whitley Bay, Cramlington, Ashington, Bedlington, Alnwick and Hexham.
You can rely on our expertise
The glass used in leaded light windows can be clear or obscure. Most colours are available in both varieties. All are translucent, but obscure glass is often chosen to afford privacy or to hide an unwanted view from the window. Leaded lights can be made to fit virtually in any window space as well as be incorporated into double glazing units. The most basic type of light comprises the division of the window space into a square or rectangular grid (quarries). A division into diamond quarries is another variation on this theme. Cutting glass into regular straight geometric shapes is relatively simple, not wasteful of glass, easy to assemble and is consequently the cheapest form of lead light glazing.
Fashion, of course, has turned full circle and a wave of home makeover television programmes has played a part in raising awareness of appropriate decoration for period houses. Stained glass has again become popular and the lost glass may be replaced with a design that’s sympathetic to the house and its date. A neighbouring property may still have its original stained glass from which exact copies can be manufactured.
As we work on churches, domestic and commercial properties across Newcastle upon Tyne, you can come to us with your requirements anytime.
Skilled in all aspects of leaded light windows
If leaded glass is designed for large window spaces, then stabilising horizontal steel bars should be fitted to the window frame at suitable intervals (not necessary if installed within double glazing). The placing of these strengthening bars should be considered during the design of the window so that they are as unobtrusive as possible. Organic shapes which became popular in the late nineteenth century (Art Nouveau style) cause more wastage in cutting and are more time-consuming to lead together.
Maintenance of leaded lights
Leaded glass was removed from many houses in the 1950s and 1960s as part of a modernising aesthetic. Many of the Victorian windows may well have required maintenance by this time, but the main reason for their mass destruction was the current taste for the clean lines of Scandinavian interior design.
At Vitrail Studios, we can help with the restoration, conservation and repair of any existing work. Our craftsmen have the skills and expertise to do a thorough job of it. The original Victorian painted roundels depicted at the centre of the photos (above and below) were set in new glass surrounds in imitation of 19th century interiors.
Assembly of an Art Nouveau style window
