Ely Cathedral — Conservation of Transept Window Glazing

Ely Cathedral is one of the great English Gothic cathedrals, its octagonal lantern tower a unique medieval engineering achievement that has dominated the Cambridgeshire Fens since the fourteenth century. Devlin Plummer Stained Glass were appointed in 2010 as conservators for the North and South transept window glazing — an extensive commission covering some of the Cathedral's most significant stained glass.

Following the completion of the cathedral contract, Devlin Plummer were additionally contracted to conserve and restore the displays at the adjacent Ely Stained Glass Museum, including the design and installation of new backlit lightboxes for the museum's glass collection. The museum's permanent exhibition features over 100 stained glass panels representing eight hundred years of the history and beauty of the craft — each displayed at eye-level to allow close study of the glass at a proximity rarely possible in situ.

The dual commission — cathedral conservation followed by museum installation — demonstrates the breadth of Devlin Plummer's expertise across both the conservation of historic glass in architectural settings and the curatorial display of historic glass collections.