Window at St Mary's, Harrington saved after crowd funding campaign

The window that fills the east wall of St Mary's Harrington was said to be progressively buckling, with the church community fearing that if urgent action wasn't taken, the window could be lost in a storm.

The stained glass is said to 'bring such light and life to the weekly worship in the church' and has been, for many in and around Harrington and Workington, 'a magnificent backdrop to many tens of thousands of christenings, weddings and funerals over the last hundred years and more'.

In January, the church appealed to people to try and raise the remaining £40,000 to save the window, which they say will cost around £60,000 to fix, including essential repairs to the stonework around the window.

After an article was seen in the Times and Star by a trustee of a local charity, the Benny Walker Trust St Mary's have been awarded a grant of £33,000.

The work is expected to last for a couple of months. (Image: Supplied)

Fundraising for the remainder of the money needed for the window and stonework repairs included a sponsored hymn sing in February. Parishioners and supporters sang 33 hymns in an hour, raising £3,500. 

Rector of Harrington and Distington, Reverend Dom de Mattos said: "I am so grateful to all those who have given so generously to this appeal, and particularly to the Benny Walker Trust who have made this urgent work possible.

"Our Justgiving fundraising page raised over £1000, and the local support has been fantastic. Following the launch of our appeal, several people shared their personal connections, going back sixty years and more, on our Facebook page. It is a wonderful reminder of how much this church means to the whole community." 

The glass in the window which was installed in 1912, has warped and buckled over the years, and without urgent attention was in danger of being lost. The glass will be removed entirely by Pendle Stained Glass Ltd and will be carefully reassembled with new leadwork in their  workshop in Burnley.

The crumbling stone of the window, and damaging cement mortar on the east gable wall will be replaced by Askins and Little, a specialist stonemason based in Penrith. 

Speaking to the Times and Star, Rector of Harrington and Distington Dom De Mattos said: "We launched our Justgiving page on 20th January and publicised our new campaign on social media. This was picked up very quickly by the Times and Star, who ran a front page article on the appeal, which was wonderful publicity for us.

"A trustee of a local charity, the Benny Walker Trust, saw the article and contacted the church to say that they could help us. After discussions, they have offered to fund £33,000 of the repairs, which is absolutely fantastic.

"We have now started work, but without the Times and Star article this would not have been possible."

After inspecting the window, Danny Morton from Pendle Stained Glass Ltd, said that the glass was beginning to break and some pieces were on the point of falling out. "This is definitely the right time to be doing this," he said. 

The work on the window started on May, 2 and is expected to last for three months.