A unique jewellery collection, crafted from original stained-glass that has been salvaged from Manchester Town Hall’s restoration works, is now available.
The Town Hall Jewellery collection has been created by Lin Fletcher, a stained-glass artist and one of the expert team tasked with repairing and restoring more than 4,000 windows as part of the Manchester Town Hall restoration project.
The jewellery is now for sale and will be sold through the Manchester Central Library shop with all the profits going to the Lord Mayor’s Charity.
Safeguarding the town hall, a nationally important Manchester icon, for generations to come through repair, restoration and refurbishment is at the heart of the project. So too is improving public access to this incredible building and its collection of civic artefacts which help tell the story of the city.
As part of the renovation, windows were removed and their condition was assessed. Much of the original glass was still in good condition – this was cleaned and re-set with new leading.
Where it couldn’t be reused, the weakened or damaged pieces of original glass were replaced with new sections. This authentic replacement glass (offcuts from the new glass that was brought in to replace what couldn’t be reused) was cut to shape as required and added in to complete the pattern. As well as the original glass that was removed, there were also offcuts from the new, authentic panes. This would ordinarily have been wasted.
Lin recognised that these small offcuts of original and authentic glass, although unusable in the windows, had wonderful heritage value. As a jeweller, she immediately saw the opportunity to transform the fragments into wearable art that celebrates Manchester’s heritage.
Each item in the collection, which includes earrings, pendants, and cufflinks, is a one-of-a-kind creation, complete with flaws and imperfections in the glass that just add to the individuality of each piece of jewellery.
There are two types in the overall collection: the ‘original’ range uses the pieces of original glass that were installed in the 1870s. The ‘authentic’ range uses the offcuts of the new glass that was specially created to replace the worn sections of the original windows.
Each item is handmade using the Tiffany method, which encases the glass piece in a lead-free solder. Earrings are hung from silver hooks and the pendants supplied separately so that you can choose your preferred chain.
