The magnificent and once imperilled medieval stained glass which forms the brightest jewel in Malvern Priory's crown has come home at last after careful conservation.
Given the havoc and destruction unleashed by Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries and the later, zealous ravages of the Cromwellian rabble, it is a miracle the precious and world-famous medieval glass of Great Malvern Priory survives at all.
But, since those upheavals, it has not been the rage of iconoclasts or the pikes of soldiers which have proved the glass's greatest enemy but the teeth and claws of the elements and the rough hands of time itself.
Henry's Dissolution was no longer the threat to the 530-year-old glass of the former Benedictine Priory - but rather the actual dissolution of the glass after centuries of exposure.
Scenes which now shine in their original resplendent brilliance include God's creation of heaven and earth, the eating of the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man.
Surveys showed the glass is high in potash which is soluble in water. Over time this can cause pitting in the glass.
But now one section of this glass - the largest and most complete collection of 15th-century stained glass of any parish church in England - is back in place after painstaking work by the York Glaziers Trust. The Creation Window is now encased in Environmental Protective Glazing to protect it for future generations and preserve it for posterity.
The change was so dramatic that Katherine Little, the Priory expert, touched her heart and was visibly moved when she saw the beautiful glass back to its best, as those in the 1480s would first have seen it.
On Thursday the last few checks on the Creation Window were performed by the team who had first had to remove the glass, take it to their studio in York, and clean and conserve it. Having such precious cargo in their van was a nerve-racking experience.
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READ MORE: Medieval stained glass of Malvern Priory is coming home
Nancy Georgi, Lydia Walters and Tony Cattle cleaned the glass after corrosion crusts had formed and layers of dirt and dust. Howard Wells, a member of the Friends of Malvern Priory and the church council, said they identified in 2015 the glass was suffering.
Nancy Georgi, speaking of her predecessors from the Middle Ages, said: "I'm amazed what skills they had. The painting is exquisite and the skill they had to cut the glass is fabulous and it's so well preserved."
Chairman of the Friends, Anne Eglington, said: "We were amazed when we saw the difference, seeing the glass before the work started and after the work was finished."
An air gap between the medieval glass and the protective layer allows the glass to breathe, preventing corrosion and condensation on the window.
The Creation Window, which cost £124,000 to conserve and protect, is one of 14 medieval windows in need of conservation, giving some idea of the scale of the work ahead - and the urgent need for millions of pounds of funding, potentially from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The East Window alone would cost around £1 million to conserve.
Rev Rod Corke said: "I'm delighted that the medieval glass of the Creation Window has been returned to its rightful place and we're very thankful for the skills of the York Glaziers and for the efforts of the Friends of Malvern Priory."
Grants from the Headley Trust and from the Worshipful Company of Glaziers have proved vital to the work so far.
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