Case Study: Fast-tracked to a Career in Stained Glass

Prior to her participation in the programme, Hannah had studied biology and spent some time working as a bat surveyor. However, she wanted to do something more practical and creative.

Having always had an interest in heritage crafts, she volunteered at the stained-glass studio, Barley Studios, for three months. Historic England was then able to support her in undertaking a six-month paid placement at Barley Studios funded through the HBS programme, allowing her to further her training in stained-glass.

Hannah’s experience on placement

The six-month placement took Hannah from knowing relatively little about stained glass to being confident in her skills, able to contribute to projects and work independently.

Hannah had the opportunity to learn every step of constructing a new stained-glass panel (including designing, cutting glass, painting, leading, soldering, puttying) and conserving historic stained glass (cleaning, edge-bonding, stop-in mends, making new painted and non-painted pieces, cold-painting, attaching leaf/strap leads), and also had the opportunity to conserve medieval glass.

Hannah described working on a large window for St Anne's Church, Limehouse, as a particular highlight. It was here that she felt the impact of the programme, as the project came towards the end of her placement, and she was able to truly start working independently, which Hannah found highly rewarding.

Impact of the Heritage at Risk summer school

The HBS Summer School, a residential training programme at Heritage at Risk site St John's Church in Lancaster, proved to be valuable for Hannah and impactful upon her confidence, network, skills and knowledge.

During the Summer School, Hannah achieved the Level 3 Award in Repair and Maintenance of Traditional (pre-1919) Buildings. This qualification gave her an understanding of building significance and conservation ethics, knowledge that she can apply regularly to different projects.

The Summer School’s lime mortar workshop continues to come in useful; Hannah learnt how to safely mix and use lime mortar, which she now uses for pointing windows into stonework. Hannah also felt that the stonemasonry workshops had a positive impact, helping her to further her understanding of how stonemasonry and stained-glass work closely together. Hannah is now more confident when talking with other heritage craftspeople, such as stonemasons, about their work in a professional setting.

Being introduced to a range of crafts and having the opportunity to work on a live site gave Hannah an understanding of the various roles involved in conserving a building, from architect to site manager. Hannah particularly enjoyed the opportunity to meet other programme participants, creating a network of people within heritage crafts, within which she has forged friendships.

Overall impact of the programme

Without the programme, Hannah would not have been able to achieve the same level of skill and experience in the same amount of time. Getting to the same point would have involved more voluntary work and attending classes alongside paid employment in another field.

During her time at Barley Studios, Hannah successfully applied for further funding from the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, which is supporting her to gain experience in different stained-glass studios. Hannah felt that she would not have been able to access this grant without the Historic Building Skills Programme, as this provided the experience she needed to apply. Hannah starts work full-time from September 2025 at one of the studios she attended through the grant.

Case study prepared in partnership with programme evaluators Harlow Consulting, Data collected by Harlow Consulting, with interviews conducted between May and June 2025