A celebration event will be held to mark the completion of a major restoration project on a locally-significant stained glass window.

The event, at 11.30am on Sunday, March 3, marks the culmination of a painstaking project to restore the Butterfield Window at the Bradford Council-run Cliffe Castle Museum and Park, in Keighley.

The Butterfield family were wealthy mill owners and it was Henry Isaac Butterfield who built the 'castle' with its lavishly furnished interior. His son Sir Frederick then made the property his permanent home.

The Butterfield Window was originally made by Powell Brothers of Leeds in 1878 and was installed as part of the rebuilding of Cliffe Castle by Henry Isaac Butterfield after a gas explosion badly damaged the previous building.

The window's centre piece is a portrait of Henry Isaac, his wife Marie-Louise and their son Frederick.

After Frederick’s death in 1943 he left orders in his will for the pictorial stained glass to be destroyed. It’s unclear why he left this order, but it is possible that it was a last rebellion against his father, or because he knew the Butterfield family name would die with him.

Out of a set of 10 panels, only the central panel depicting the Butterfield family survived and when the house was converted into a museum, a number of small roundels from elsewhere in the building were put into plain panels in the window.

Demolition of parts of the building during its conversion to museum in the 1950s left the window even more vulnerable to the elements, which eventually resulted in the need for the conservation.

As part of the restoration project the glasswork was removed by specialist stained glass conservation company, Jonathan and Ruth Cooke Ltd. It underwent cleaning to remove years of grime and old paint splashes from previous redecorations of the staircase. The husband and wife team also took on the challenge of creating new stained glass panels to replace the clear panels.

Local, historic building restoration company Stone-Edge Ltd, repaired and re-carved the stonework on the window and Hirst Conservation Ltd worked with members of Bradford Council’s Museum’s and Galleries team on investigating the original paint scheme.

Coun Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “The team have done a fantastic job and the window is now much closer to the riot of colour that visitors would have experienced when walking into the castle in the 1880s.

“The restoration of the window is part of on-going ambitions to restore or reinstate elements of Cliffe Castle’s original decorative schemes, including the reinstallation of the Malachite Fireplace, a reweave of the original carpet, graining and gilding work to walls, work on the balustrade and joinery and the installation of paintings on the upper walls. Future ambitions for the window include reinstating the gilding and the original decorative paint scheme that surrounded the window.”

Heather Millard, Social History Curator at Bradford Council, said: “During WW2 many of the original drawings and records from Powell’s who made the original window were destroyed, so we were unable to find anything that would help us to exactly re-create the specific design of the missing panels. The project team decided to evoke the sense of the original window by taking inspiration from the design and colour palate of the central panel, choosing ghostly type figures to allow the viewer to imagine the details themselves or to picture themselves within the window.”

Jonathan Cooke from Jonathan and Ruth Cooke Ltd, said: “This was a very special project, unique in some ways, combining our specialist restoration skills on area untouched since the day they were installed back in the 1880s and totally new design work in collaboration with museum staff, to complete an impression of the former glory of this large window.

“I hope my designs will inspire visitors to this wonderful museum with its excellent collection of historic stained glass to ask questions about what happened to the people depicted in the original window.

“Except for the Napoleonic throne in the centre panel, I used a loose painting technique to convey a shadowy impression of the lost figures, and, although there was always a pressure of time to complete the panels, I very much enjoyed the freedom this gave me. As a professional glass painter, as well as conservator, this project has been a bit of a treat as well as an intellectual challenge for me.

“I have very much enjoyed working with the team at Cliffe Castle and Bradford Council. Their support and enthusiasm at every stage gave me the encouragement I needed to see this through.”

Chris Newton, from Stone Edge Ltd said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working at Cliffe Castle, surrounded by such a fascinating collection of objects. We always relish the opportunity to produce some intricate stone carving, and the replacement of the stone tracery has been a great project. We hand-carved the replacement pieces off-site in our yard, using traditional stonemason’s tools, and our fixer masons installed them on-site.”