HISTORIC stained glass windows have gone on public display for the first time since being rescued from a church which was demolished several years ago.

Three windows have been installed at the Wheatley Hill Heritage Centre, in east Durham, while a further window is now at the village’s All Saint’s Church.

The windows, saved from St Bartholomew’s Church, in nearby Thornley, were dedicated, respectively, to John Spearman of Thornley Hall and George Wilkinson of the Wheatley Hill Estate.

They were restored to their former glory with the help of a substantial grant from the County Durham Community Foundation.

Wheatley Hill Heritage Society treasurer Billy Middleton said: “They are beautiful windows. It’s great they have been saved and are on display for the community.

“When the church closed in 2007 and was about to be demolished and I realised they had to be saved. I went to the Thornley Parish Council, who agreed to pay for them to be removed.

“We had them taken to the Thornley Community Centre. We had planned to install them there later. But the community centre was burned down and we brought them to the heritage centre.”

Heritage society secretary Margaret Hedley added: “The windows were made by well-known London stained glass companies.

St Bartholomew’s Church was a lovely building, but it was in bad repair structurally and was considered too expensive to repair.

“The windows are heritage asset we felt needed to be saved and should stay here.

“We had them assessed by experts who told us they were well-worth cleaning up.”

The windows were restored by specialist glazier Barry Swinburne, of Blackhall.

The Heritage Centre is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-noon and 2-4pm and Saturdays 2-4pm.