Mystery of stained glass shards uncovered

The mystery of a box of stained glass that turned up at a church in Fife in Scotland has now been solved.

A box of 49 stained glass pieces wrapped in newspaper from 2005 were left outside Dunfermline Abbey, alongside a typewritten note with no name, back in November 2020.

The church's parish minister and the congregation were left confused as to which window the glass originally belonged to.

However experts have now solved the mystery, using a combination of science, and history, and have discovered that the shards were originally part of the Margaret Window.

What did the mysterious note say?

The mysterious note left alongside the pieces read: "Hello there, I am returning some stained glass that I found over 20 years ago. It was in a small pile below the scaffold that was erected by the Abbey (near footpath facing west).

"I wrapped it up in paper to protect it but never had the chance to return it. Unsure if was new glass going in or old coming out.

"I felt a bit guilty taking it and hope it will get used. Regards, CEEPS".

Dr Rennie said: "We are delighted that the mystery of where this glass originally came from has finally been unravelled.

"We still have no idea who CEEPS is and why they decided to return it to the abbey when they did, but we are grateful."

How did they solve the mystery of the stained glass?

Reverend Dr MaryAnn Rennie enlisted the help of some experts to help her solve the mystery

The church's parish minister Rev Dr MaryAnn Rennie got in touch with Professor Michael Penman, a professor of history at the University of Stirling, for help.

He looked at old historical records to see when there was damage or repair work to the church to help narrow things down.

Professor Penman also asked his friend, a scientist named Dr Craig Kennedy from the Institute for Sustainable Building Design at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh for help, alongside stained glass expert and PhD student Vivienne Kelly.

Dr Kennedy tested the stained glass shards using an electron microscope and x-ray fluorescence to identify the elements in the glass.

This meant the scientists could roughly work out the age of the glass based on the materials it was made from - lead, potassium, arsenic and sulphur.

From this, they figured out that the glass was made between the 1870s and the 1930s.

One of the windows in the church

Vivienne Kelly then visited the Abbey Church, and worked out that the stained-glass pieces were originally part of the Margaret Window in the south part of the church.

She said she could see where the glass had been replaced as the colour and texture of the material used was slightly different to the original pieces.

Altogether the researchers worked out that the stained glass window dated back to 1932 and was designed by Alexander Strachan. It shows the marriage of Queen Margaret and King Malcolm Canmore.

As for what happened, Ms Kelly said her "best guess" is the Margaret Window was struck and damaged by a scaffolding pole during refurbishment work in the late 1990s.

She added: "But unless CEEPS comes forward, the full circumstances behind the disappearance and reappearance of the glass will remain an intriguing part of the abbey's history."