Re: Re: Irish say no to PVC windows

Some of the Trinity windows below. The majority of the West Front’s old panes, certainly in the non-restored windows, seem to be an early form of cylinder glass, with that typical wrinkled and warped texture like the skin that forms on hot milk:

The only pane of 1750s crown glass above is that in the very top right corner with the very apparent swirls.

The crown glass featured in ‘The Legacy of Light’ seems to be the exception rather than the rule right across the entire 1750s Parliament Square complex incl the West Front. Many non-restored windows also appear to feature quite an amount of modern glass too, though it’s difficult to say how much such was the light at the time. This un-restored W F window seems to feature nearly all modern glass, with only two single panes of cylinder in opposing corners:

Otherwise though, un-restored windows with lots of modern glass do not seem to be that common.

This restored window on the W F features entirely modern glass which is very wavy in appearance, with the exception of a single surviving cylinder pane in the lower sash.

All of the other few windows that have been restored here so far also seem to feature lots of this strange glass. I don’t know if it was here before the restoration. Here’s another example, though this time a lot more cylinder:

Moving inside to the Front Square and the northern block, and again a mixture of cylinder and modern wavy stuff in this restored window:

Pretty much all of these windows in the northern wing feature exactly the same mixture of modern wavy and old cyclinder. No evidence of crown at all. Many of the upper windows in the northern block also feature 1830s horns which might explain the early cylinder in the older sashes below such as that pictured.

So all in all, a difficult one to call without examining all the glass exceptionally closely. There appears to be a difference between very flat modern glass in some windows and more wavy modern glass in others as pictured. If this difference could be confirmed, and the wavy glass distinguished as being only in restored sashes, then there could well be something fishy going on. Either way that wavy modern stuff isn’t very attractive – gives the impression of bendy plastic sheeting. Still, it does seem all of this was there before the restoration, and in the windows I looked at I didn’t come across any really dodgy stuff like that you pictured Devin.

Admittedly crown can look like plastic too in certain light – here’s some lovely stuff surviving high up in the side elevation of the Chapel. Note the blatently modern pane in the top left and the cylinder pane in the bottom left:

Also some stunning cylinder above the central doorway of the northern block: