REPAIR and conservation work will be carried out on the lunette window in the library at Stourhead House.

The National Trust team at Stourhead have commissioned Holy Well Glass, based in Wells, to carry out the reapir work.

The lunette window was painted by Francis Eginton in 1803 and is based on Raphael’s ‘School of Athens' after being commissioned and designed specifically for Stourhead.

Steve Clare from Holy Well Glass said: “My team is looking forward to the challenge of conserving this remarkable glass. Eginton's unique method, with several layers of painted glass less than 1mm thick placed together, will test the skills of our conservators.”

Holy Well Glass will use scaffolding to access the window, which is eight metres high, and the panels will be then be removed, packed in special trays and transported to the conservation studio where there they will be conserved before being returned later in the year.

Alison Holmes, Stourhead’s House Steward, said: “This is a very exciting project to conserve such a distinctive part of Stourhead and will be an amazing opportunity to see the unique construction and detail of the window up close.

“The conservation project will start on June 13 and is due to last for three months, with the panes expected to arrive back at Stourhead and be reinstated in September.

“Throughout the project, the library will remain open for Stourhead’s visitors to enjoy and offering the chance for to see what it takes to care for this special place.”

The lunette window was created by painting the four faces of two individual panes of thin glass, which were then kiln-fired to fuse the paint to the glass surface.

The two completed panes were then sandwiched together and pressed into linseed oil putty beds within a metal frame.