Camm Brothers window research project

As part of the redevelopment of the Castle, a stained glass window made by Camm Brothers, Birmingham, will be reinstated in its original location – an archway between the café area and the ground floor galleries of the Ducal Palace. It was commissioned to commemorate the grand opening of the Museum and Art Gallery in 1878, and we’re delighted that after years of being in storage it will now be returned for all to see.

Over the next few months, a group of dedicated volunteers aim to find out all they can about the history, design, manufacture and ultimately reinstatement of this fabulous window. We will share their progress here on the website and also via social media and our newsletter. Thanks to Yvonne for our first blog post below.

Site visit – 6th August 2019

On August 6th Nottingham Castle Project volunteers made an eagerly anticipated site visit accompanied by project staff members. Wearing appropriate site safety gear we set off on our tour ably led by Isaac from project contractor’s G F Tomlinson.

First stop was the impressive new Visitor Centre; so much progress has been made since we volunteers were last on site! Approaching the Ducal Palace we couldn’t fail to be impressed by the size and design of the scaffolding which stands independent of the building.

Once inside it was wonderful to see rooms returned to the dimensions created for them by the 19th Century Nottingham architect T C Hine. Our mission today was to meet Rachael, a 21st Century architect from Purcell, who are responsible for the redesign of the museum.

Rachael explained the plans for the reinstatement of the beautiful Camm Brothers stained glass window created to commemorate the opening of the museum in 1878. We looked at the archway it will fit back into and a matching new one which already looks like it has always been there and gives great symmetry to the room. Following conservation and with a bespoke new frame, the window will look absolutely stunning with daylight coming through to reveal the enduring depth and beauty of its colours!

Yvonne Armitage, project volunteer

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