Historic 16th century Shropshire window saved from smashing in the nick of time
It was created around the time when Mary Queen of Scots was forced to flee to England – and decades before the Great Plague arrived.
The 16th century window is the oldest in the town of Bridgnorth.
And now it should be around for centuries to come after it was saved from smashing – just in time.
The window and heavy wooden frame were discovered to be coming away from the main structure of the building on Bridgnorth's High Street.
Urgent action was needed to repair the window, which was replaced with boards for part of December and into this month.
Liage Opticians, which is based in the building, decided to begin work over the Christmas period during one of its traditional quieter trading periods.
Specialists were called in to remove the window, which forms part of the listed building, to carry out repairs following advice from experts at English Heritage.
The window was finally reinstalled this week, much to the delight of shop owner Wayne Vernon.
Mr Vernon, who moved into the premises in 1998, said: "The boarding was up for about a month, mainly during December, which is traditionally our quietest month.
"But we were busy this year, until the boarding went up and then everything died a death with about half the number of people coming in.
"Once the boards came down people started coming in again despite there being a sign saying we were open. People obviously don't like coming into a shop without a window. The work was carried out by the owner of the building, so we're not sure how much it all cost. But because it's a listed building specialists had to come to carry out all the work."
Mr Vernon said at one point the window was bending by an inch a day so work was desperately needed to repair the frame as soon as possible.
"The window was not cracking from the top down but it had bowed quite a lot over the years," he said.
"The supporting plinth on the outside had rotted away, which meant it had no ground support.
"The window was gradually being dragged out towards the pavement by an inch per day towards the end. We urgently had to get some temporary supports put in.
"It's quite strange to look at it now. It looks like it's arching inwards because I'm so used to seeing it with a slight bow."
