Designed by John Thornton of Coventry between 1405-8, the Great East Window of York Minster stands at 78 feet tall. At about the size of a tennis court, the 311-panelled window is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain and regarded as one of the great pre-Renaissance treasures of European art.

Yet six centuries of wear and tear had taken their toll on this major tourist attraction and source of income for the city of York.
Work was urgently needed to ensure the preservation and enjoyment of this stained glass for centuries to come.


The continued conservation work at York Minster is underpinned by the world-leading position in stained glass research of the Department of History of Art at York.

This departmental specialisation is expressed in the research generated in the Stained Glass Studies research cluster, the MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management, and the British Corpus Vitrearum project - a British Academy research project located at York which aims to provide an online survey of the nation’s stained glass.
(University of York)