Church warden Grahame Foster examines one of the stained glass windows at Launceston's Holy Trinity Church, which has been replaced after maintenance. Picture: NEIL RICHARDSON
FOR 18 months at Launceston's Holy Trinity Church, plywood has filled the gap where some of the "finest examples of stained glass" windows had been.
Yesterday the north-facing windows were reinstalled after extensive repairs.
The Reverend Warwick Cuthbertson said he was glad the windows had been returned.
"It's been a process, we've had a lot of windows sent away," he said.
Restoration is not as simple as fixing the window itself - part of the church's stonework also had to be repaired to fit the windows in their original position.
Mr Cuthbertson said there is "quite a bit more to go" in restoring the church with repairs required on more stonework and a further 15 windows.
The church's windows, created by Australian William Montgomery in 1907, take about three months to restore at considerable cost.
$142,000 has so far been spent on the church's repairs with an aim to raise $500,000 in total.
Church warden Grahame Foster urged the public to make a tax- deductible donation through the National Trust to continue the conservation of the Holy Trinity Church.