Stained Glass Bristol
We supply Overlay Stained Glass for windows and doors to Bristol and the surrounding areas. You can supply your own design or browse our extensive Stained Glass gallery for some inspiration. Then head over to our how to order page once you know which design you would like. This section will tell you all the information we need from you so we can give you a quote. While browsing our galleries, remember that we can produce any design in almost any glass size. We can also customise designs to your exact specifications. This might be changing some colours or adding some extra leaves in a pattern. Any questions about our process, feel free to contact us.
The Leadbitter Glass studio was established in 1994 and has supplied decorative glass to Bristol ever since. View some past orders we’ve created for customers in the Bristol area.
We also supply Etched Glass, Bevelled Glass and Fused Glass to homes in Bristol and the surrounding areas.
Stained Glass For Today’s World
Originally stained glass was manufactured using small pieces of fragile glass fixed together with a ‘H’ lead strip. The lead was then soldered so the glass would stay together. Think of it like a thin jigsaw being held up vertically, it is never going to be very durable and will crack eventually. Security is also a concern to Bristol homeowners and all of our stained glass jobs are produced with toughened glass in either single or double glazed format. Although the older technique is sometimes still used in Bristol today, modern Overlay Stained Glass is a much more popular, versatile and durable product. Overlay Stained Glass can also meet all of the current building regulations whereas the older method cannot.
Our Overlay Stained Glass (or Leaded Glass as we call it) is created by applying lead strips to both sides of a sheet of toughened safety glass. Overlay Stained Glass Colours are located on one side of the glass under the leaded strips. This glass can be supplied as single glazed toughened glass or a double glazed unit. The traditional ‘jigsaw’ method cannot be supplied as a double glazed unit because it is made using small fragile pieces with gaps in between.
See Your Glass Before It Is Made
If you order any decorative glass panels with us, you will automatically receive a Computer Generated Image to show you how your glass panels will look before they are made. Our Client Pages section currently shows hundreds of recent jobs we have created for clients in Bristol and around the world. We will draw your requested design in your sizes and either email the design to you or upload it to the Client Pages section for approval. If all looks fine with the layout, we will start manufacture but if you would like to change anything about the design, we will make the adjustments and forward the new version for you to view at no extra cost. We never make any glass panel until the customer is 100% happy with the layout.
Mackintosh Internal Window – Coalpit Heath
We were commissioned by a client in 2023 to create an Overlay Stained Glass Window for their home. The chosen design was the Kilmarnock Design from our Mackintosh Range. His preferred version of the design was the fully coloured 601 version but their glass sizes were about half the height of the 601 design. We selected the elements from the design that we thought would work well in a much smaller panel. The main link above shows you the stunning finished result.
Overlay Stained Glass Lighthouse
A client got in touch with us back in 2022 and enquired if we could create a longer version of a panel we had created for another customer the previous year. The client had spotted this previous Lighthouse panel and wanted a version but in a different shape. We gave a quote and the client ordered the glass. A few days later we re-designed the pattern to suit the new clients specific glass sizes and uploaded it to their personal Client Page. The main link above shows the proof we supplied to the client before we started work on the glass.
FLW Shaped Glass Doorway
A recent customer found our Frank Lloyd Wright Illinois Design on our website and contacted us to ask if we could supply the design in a specific shaped glass. The client sent photos of the door glass shapes required and we confirmed that we could make the glass in that exact shape. The glass was made using 4mm toughened Stippolyte glass and we used a dark lead strip for the lines of the design. The main link above will show you the drawings we supplied before we got to work on the actual glass.
Basic Leaded Tulips – Bristol
Way back in 2012 we were asked to supply 2 toughened panels of glass with a tulip design. The client provided their own artwork and requested the glass to look as close to their drawing as possible. The glass was to be installed into kitchen cabinets and you can see the drawing we provided before making the glass, in the link above.
The Many Advantages Of Overlay Stained Glass
As previously mentioned, one big advantage that our Overlay Stained Glass has over the traditional method is that toughened glass can be used. Plain colours, marbled colours and textures can be used along with soldered lead. These durable and attractive materials produce a beautiful effect that lasts and when done correctly, it can be unrecognisable from the older technique.
When using natural lead strip, our decorative glass artists can solder the joints and age the lead to give the glass that old stained glass look. Soldered leadwork costs extra so please request a quote for this. Using Minster glass as the decorative leaf of the double glazed sealed unit gives the panel that old appearance.
As you can see by the picture of this 1930’s glass design, the coloured areas of the glass aren’t flat. All of the colours are textured the same as the colourless areas of the design. This glass is called Minster glass and it is very popular with our customers.
New But Old
The modern procedure has many advantages over the older stained glass technique. Energy saving is a big concern in todays world and with the stained glass design being manufactured as a stained glass overlay onto a solid sheet of toughened glass, this reduces the possibility of the cold weather coming into the home through the joints of the design. Our designs can also be applied directly onto energy saving Pilkington K Glass. This special glass is now a building regulations requirement in the Bristol area for every new window and door installation. We supply Pilkington K glass on the rear face of every sealed unit we supply.
Durability and security are other advantages with this Leaded Glass technique. Applying the design directly onto toughened glass provides long lasting and secure decorative glass. People around Bristol have paid a lot of money for the old stained glass product but it didn’t always stand the test of time. Small coloured sections of a traditional ‘jigsaw’ style panel can break quite easily but this cannot happen with our product.
The materials
As all of our decorative glass is created bespoke, you get to choose the materials we use. You can select your own colours, request the obscure glass you want and even the type of lead strip you prefer.
Lead
Lead strip also comes in many colours and effects. The old favourite through the 80’s and 90’s being Option 1 Natural lead. Today almost every job we create is manufactured using Option 2 Antique Lead which is a darker lead (see below). Leadbitter Glass now offers antique lead as standard so this is included in any quote you receive. Soldered joints on the lead strips help achieve that ‘traditional’ feel to the glass. this finish can be requested at an extra price. You can see the different Lead strips available in our Leaded Glass Options page.
Colours
There are literally hundreds of overlay stained glass colours to choose from for use in the modern day stained glass. Plain colours and Effect colours can be chosen to personalise your new glass panels to your home. All colours can be combined with a textured overlay to create an even larger range of options.
Obscure Stained Glass
The Frank Lloyd Wright style door set below was created using toughened Minster Glass and our Overlay Stained Glass technique. We used our Aged Lead (Option 2) and various transparent colours for the design. The door was one solid sheet of toughened safety glass and each of the two side panels were also one sheet of toughened safety glass. Minster glass is one of the most popular glass types for use with Leaded Glass designs. Another popular obscure glass we use to create Overlay Stained Glass panels is Stippolyte glass. We can also use clear glass or Flemish glass to create any Stained Glass panel.
Browse Our Leaded Glass Galleries
Our website contains hundreds of Stained Glass patterns and our main gallery is the first place to head. We have categorised our patterns into themed galleries and glass suitable for different styles of doors. The Main Gallery will help you find the perfect stained glass pattern for you or at least give you the inspiration to dream up your own pattern.
We supply Stained Glass to Bristol and it’s surrounding areas, including:
Weston-Super-Mare – Bath – Taunton – Newport – Chippenham – Cheltenham – Gloucester – Swindon – Stroud – Clevedon – Trowbridge – Portishead – Yate – Cwmbran – Thornbury – Melksham – Chepstow – Frome – Malmesbury – Bridgwater