Dean’s Eye

HRH Prince of Wales visited Lincoln Cathedral on Wednesday 3 May 2006 to commemorate the completion of the restoration work on the Deans Eye window.

He spent over an hour in the works department meeting staff and touring the workshops. In the cathedral he unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit and spoke of Lincoln as ‘one of his favourite cathedrals’.

History

The Dean’s Eye dates from this period of restoration of the cathedral by St Hugh; the other great rose window in the south transept, the Bishop’s Eye, was re-constructed 100 years later in 1330.

Meaning

A contemporary record “The Metrical Life of St Hugh” refers to the meaning of these two windows one on the dark, north, side and the other on the light, south, side of the building:

“For north represents the devil, and south the Holy Spirit and it is in these directions that the two eyes look. The bishop faces the south in order to invite in and the dean the north in order to shun; the one takes care to be saved, the other takes care not to perish. With these Eyes the cathedral’s face is on watch for the candelabra of Heaven and the darkness of Lethe (oblivion).”

The Dean’s Eye is a fine example of early English plate tracery, technically it is also a “wheel window” so called because it is reminiscent of spokes in a wheel. Its geometric design, with concentric tiers of circular window lights, was innovative in the early part of the thirteenth century, and predated the geometric tracery of the later Decorated style of Gothic architecture.

The principal theme of the stained glass is the second coming of Christ and the Last Judgement. It shows the Blessed in Heaven grouped around Christ in Majesty. Sixteen roundels depict angels, bishops, kings and biblical characters. The topmost roundel shows Christ as Judge. The window incorporates scenes which are associated with death and resurrection such as the funeral of St Hugh and the death of the Virgin as well as Adam digging and Eve spinning.

Restoration

In 1770 some minor repairs were carried out, including the replacement of some masonry. In 1885 the glass was removed and re-leaded and additional masonry repairs were carried out.

In the 1980’s it was noticed that the window was curving outward. The main threat was from southerly winds which create a vacuum on the outside of the window. The work was undertaken in two phases — Phase 1, the removal and repair of the stained glass and Phase 2, the removal of all the original stone tracery and the recarving and replacement of new tracery and manufacture of isothermal glazing.

Around 70% of the stained glass is original. All the restoration work has been carried out in the Cathedral Works Department by our team of experienced stained glass conservators.

There were several problems with the stone tracery. All the weight of the tracery was concentrated on the central quatrefoil- this had begun to fail and crack. The cracking of the stone had extended to the rest of the tracery. The stone tracery had to be completely replaced before the stained glass could be returned.

This was particularly challenging as the window supports the transept roof. The wall and roof of the transept had to be supported by specially designed scaffolding and each piece of stone removed individually and recorded. All the new stone tracery has been carved and replaced by the stonemasons team in the Cathedral Works Department. The final result is a tribute to their skills.