Knockderry Castle, Helensburgh - The Viking Room
Northern Lights worked in collaboration with Eden Stained Glass on the conservation of a scheme of nineteenth century windows from Knockderry Castle, Helensburgh. Knockderry Castle was built in 1851-54, with later alterations made to the building in 1869, and significant extensions to the east side and ‘baronial additions’ added in 1896.
The studio of J & W Guthrie - one of the most prolific Scottish studios of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the late nineteenth century – was commissioned to design two window schemes at Knockderry in 1887. As part of the extensive restoration project being undertaken at the castle, we worked on one of these schemes - three panels depicting the arrival of the Vikings in the thirteenth century. The panels individually portray; King Haakon IV, the Battle at Largs, and the Vikings arriving in longboats at Loch Lomond.
In the Northern Lights studio, the panels were photographed, condition checked, documented and - as they were structurally very weak – dismantled. A section of one of the panels containing 3d ‘jewels’ was retained in its current lead. The glass was cleaned and broken pieces edge-bonded before the panels were re-leaded and waterproofed.. The panels were then reinstalled in the castle into newly fabricated sash windows, offering protection and support.
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