St Conan’s Kirk is blessed with amazing windows which allow light to flood into the Kirk through clear leaded glass windows and also with colour through the stained glass windows. However, after 100 years we have the ongoing task of conserving them.
There are three main types of windows in the kirk:
- Stained Glass windows
- Clear vertical glass windows
- Dormer windows in the roof of the Nave and South Aisle.
The west facing rose window was painted by Helen Douglas Campbell and sits high above the organ screen in the nave. It is a 3 layered design and the outer protective window was no longer water tight affecting it’s wooden frame and there was water ingress through the window into the building below.
The conservation process included removal of the window for for expert inspection, cleaning, creating new wooden tracery and re-leading the window.
To protect it going forward, an additional 4 pane protective window was installed to keep the Argyll weather at bay.
Although we have made good progress on windows, there are several other conservation jobs to be done on the stained other glass windows. For example the stained glass window in the north tower (known as the Penitent at Tomb of Christ) needs conserved as the supports have rusted reducing the reinforcement to keep the window secure.
The Dormer windows in the pitched roofs of the Nave and South Aisle are on steel frames and need refurbished. There are 15 sets of windows. Costs are estimates at a total of £5000.
There are a number of other leaded clear glass windows needing repairs to create a watertight building.
