The Thomas Becket Miracle Windows Conservation and Research Project
Miracles and Masterpieces
Created from 1180-1220, the Miracle Windows are eight vivid and emotive stained glass windows, of an original twelve, that surround the former site of St Thomas Becket’s shrine in the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral.
These extraordinary survivals represent some of the best-preserved examples of early medieval stained glass remaining in the UK and indeed in Europe. They are exceptional and irreplaceable works of early Gothic art.
In 2018, the Cathedral launched a major interdisciplinary endeavour: The Thomas Becket Miracle Windows Research and Conservation Project.
Images and films © Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral | Photographer/videographer: Alex J. Wright
About the project + documentary film Watch: Stories of medieval lives Connecting with our past Our supporters Get involved
About the project
The Thomas Becket Miracle Windows Conservation and Research Project is jointly led by Léonie Seliger, Director of Canterbury Cathedral’s Stained Glass Studio, and Dr Rachel Koopmans, Associate Professor of Medieval History at York University, Toronto.
Seliger spearheads the conservation of the glass, while Koopmans carries out the academic research underpinning the endeavour. The project’s goal is to remove, examine, record, and conserve all eight of the surviving Miracle Windows, improving our knowledge of their contents and ensuring that they are preserved in stable environmental conditions.
Watch our project documentary film to find out more →
Uncovering the Stories of Medieval Lives
The windows are visual renderings of dozens of miracle stories drawn from a text written by one of Canterbury’s monks - Benedict of Peterborough - in the time following Becket’s murder in 1170, a period in which the fame of Canterbury’s miracle-working martyr spread across Christendom.
The windows amaze not only for the glaziers’ genius in composition, colour handling, expressive painting and narrative art, but also for their sensitive rendering of the illnesses, pilgrimages and healing experiences of medieval men, women, and children.
Close examination of the glass in the Cathedral’s conservation studio has led to fascinating new insights about the medieval people whose stories are portrayed in the windows and also the glaziers who made them.
Watch our short films to discover some of these stories →
Connecting with our Past
As news of Becket’s martyrdom spread and reports of his healing miracles multiplied, thousands of medieval pilgrims journeyed to the Cathedral to witness the site of his murder and to visit his place of burial.
Canterbury had always been a site of pilgrimage but Becket’s cult supercharged this status - as immortalised in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales – elevating the Cathedral to sit alongside Compostela and Rome as one of medieval Christendom’s major pilgrimage sites.
Today, worshippers, visitors and pilgrims at the Cathedral walk the same route as their forebears, and the Miracle Windows are a crucial international resource for sharing central aspects of British and European medieval history with the public.
The windows tell the story of Canterbury and of medieval pilgrimage, illness, disability, and healing, connecting our visitors today with those who lived centuries ago.
With Thanks
We are grateful to all of those who have supported the conservation and research project so far.
The Friends of Canterbury Cathedral
The Canterbury Cathedral Trust Foundation
Astor of Hever Trust
The British Museum
Madeline H. Caviness
Elizabeth Cayzer Charitable Trust
Olive Lawson
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Guy and Elinor Meynell Charitable Trust
The William and Edith Oldham Charitable Trust
The Oxus Foundation
If you would like to support the Miracle Windows, please contact: [email protected]
Support our stained glass conservation and research
By kindly giving a donation, you are directly contributing to our work to protect and preserve this special place for generations to come.
From small to larger donations - including one-off or regular payments (UK and international), becoming a Friend of Canterbury Cathedral or leaving a legacy - gifts of any size are gratefully received.
