Lancaster Etched Glass

Founded in 1994, the Leadbitter Glass Studio has been supplying Etched Glass panels to homes and businesses across Lancaster ever since, delivering to every other part of the UK too. Lancaster already has its own glassmaking pedigree — Shrigley and Hunt, a stained glass firm founded in the city, has supplied churches across England for generations — and the Georgian townhouses near the Castle are exactly the kind of setting where etched glass has always looked its best.

Etched glass, sometimes called sandblasted glass, obscures sections of clear glass to leave a pattern behind, rather than adding colour on top of it. Every panel we build is bespoke to your own glass sizes — family crests, favourite trees, and traditional Victorian motifs are all common requests — and the vast majority of orders qualify for free delivery across Lancaster.

As one of the oldest decorative glass techniques still in use, it lets in far more daylight than a coloured panel, with no lead work or tint getting in the way. Our own glass has appeared in a Prime Minister’s home and on Hollywood film sets, though most of what we make is still for homeowners across Lancaster. We also produce other styles of Decorative Glass for Lancaster clients, including Stained Glass, Bevelled Glass, and Fused Glass.

See your glass before we create it!

See It Drawn Up Before It’s Made

Every Lancaster order comes with a free Client Page, where within a few days we post a computer-drawn proof built to your exact glass sizes. Not quite right? Tell us what needs changing — the pattern resized, the lettering shifted, the border widened — and we’ll send back a revised drawing. We’ll keep adjusting for as long as you need, and won’t start production until you’ve said yes.

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 Lancaster 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 It’s Actually Done

We work from a sheet of toughened safety glass and apply a mask cut precisely to your chosen design, protecting every part of it except the pattern. Fine abrasive is then blasted onto the exposed glass at real pressure, wearing the surface down to a permanent frost wherever the mask doesn’t cover it.

Because that frost sits inside the glass itself rather than on top of it, there’s genuinely nothing to peel or discolour — a real advantage over a stick-on “etch effect” film, which tends to yellow and lift within a couple of years.

If an old etched panel in your home has cracked or gone missing, send us a photograph — our glass artists can often reproduce the original pattern closely, even without the piece itself.

Ready to have Etched Glass, or any other decorative glass, made for your Lancaster 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.