Condensation threatens 16th-century ‘jewel-like’ glass

THEY reputedly survived the Civil War hidden in a pond and centuries later escaped being smashed to bits in German bombing raids.

Yet the nearly 500-year-old exquisite Tudor stained glass chapel windows of The Vyne near Sherborne St John in Hampshire are at risk – from condensation.

The glass, feted as the most impressive in the National Trust’s collection and some of the finest in Europe, is becoming pitted and corroded by moisture. The Trust is embarking on a £62,000, fourmonth project to remove, clean and refit the 16th-century glass with protective glazing.

Joanna Crosse, from the Trust, said what makes the windows so special “is not their age, it’s their jewel-like quality”. The 18 chapel windows include scenes of a young Henry VIII.

He stayed at the house on several occasions, with wives Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, as guest of its owner, William Sandys. Another window depicts the King with St Henry of Bavaria.

Stunning: St Henry of Bavaria, left, and King Henry VIII, centre, are depicted in the stained glass panels within the chapel at The Vyne in Hampshire. The 16th-century windows, which possess an unrivalled quality according to experts, are about to be...