Etched Glass Hereford

Founded in 1994, the Leadbitter Glass Studio has been supplying Etched Glass panels to homes and businesses across Hereford ever since, delivering to every other part of the UK too. The black-and-white timber-framed buildings and Georgian terraces around the Cathedral Close are exactly the kind of period setting where etched glass has always looked its best.

Craft is taken seriously in Hereford — you don’t house the world’s largest chained library or a 700-year-old map without developing a certain respect for things made well and built to last. We approach etched glass the same way. Sometimes called sandblasted glass, every panel is bespoke to your own glass sizes, and requests for family crests, favourite trees, and traditional Victorian motifs are all part of the everyday work in our studio. The vast majority of orders qualify for free delivery across Hereford.

It’s also one of the oldest decorative glass techniques still in everyday use, valued for letting through far more daylight than a coloured panel would. Our glass has appeared in a Prime Minister’s home and on Hollywood film sets, though most of our work is still made for homeowners across Hereford. We also produce other styles of Decorative Glass for Hereford clients, including Stained Glass, Bevelled Glass, and Fused Glass.

See your glass before we create it!

Our Free Client Pages Design Service

Every Hereford order comes with its own Client Page, where a few days after ordering, one of our glass artists posts a proof drawn to your exact glass measurements. It’s not a rough sketch — it’s built to the same precision as the finished piece, so you can genuinely judge how it’ll look. Want the pattern shifted, or the house name in a different font? Ask, and we’ll amend it as many times as necessary. Production doesn’t start until the drawing has your approval.

Perfect For House Names And Numbers

Etched glass suits house names and numbers particularly well, and it’s one of our most common requests for the fanlight above a front door. If your Hereford home has one, we can create a panel showing your house number or name. For the sharpest result, we generally etch the surrounding background and leave the lettering itself clear, so it stands out at a glance.

How Our Etched Glass Is Made

The basic principle behind etched glass has stayed the same for well over a century, and we haven’t found a reason to shortcut it. A mask, cut precisely to your chosen design, is applied to a sheet of toughened safety glass. Everywhere the mask doesn’t cover, we blast the surface with abrasive under high pressure, wearing it down to a permanent frost.

Because that texture is cut directly into the glass, it never needs repainting, resealing, or replacing the way a printed vinyl “etch effect” film does after a couple of years of yellowing and lifting.

If you have an old etched panel that’s cracked or gone missing, send us a photograph — our glass artists can often reproduce the original pattern closely, even without the piece itself to work from.

Ready to have Etched Glass, or any other decorative glass, made for your Hereford home or business? Get in touch today for an accurate quote and turnaround time.

Browse Our Etched Glass Galleries

Our website holds one of the largest collections of decorative glass patterns anywhere. Browse hundreds of Etched Glass designs in our main gallery, arranged by theme and by door style, to find the right pattern — or simply for inspiration towards your own. Visit the Main Gallery to see what’s possible.

Notable Etched Glass Commissions from the Hereford area…