Stained glass traineeship in York sees 600 job applications in space of days
Much is made of the demise of heritage crafts, but what if demand was simply hidden by funding fashions?
A stained glass conservation trust in Yorkshire has been flooded with 600 applications in the space of days for just one job posting.
The demand is there, for young people keen to take up a trade, just no funding to make it happen.
Dr Marie Groll is director of York Glaziers Trust. With Sophie Gwynn, specialist conservator, teams are blown away by the sheer volume of applicants.
And at the calibre of those wanting to learn a traditional trade.
“Stained glass conservation, as a craft, is often cited as endangered,” she said. “There are more people retiring than there are new entrants.
“We are inundated,” she added. “There are clearly a lot of people out there who see this as something that isn’t going to be ‘redundant’, or replaced by AI.
“It’s a hand craft at its core. It is future proof.”
The York Glaziers Trust, with Britain’s oldest and largest specialist conservator studios and as the only not-for-profit in the country, is in a unique position where it can focus much of its attention on the next generation.
With support from the York Minster Fund, they are advertising for someone to join them on a three-year trainee stained glass conservator scheme.
Incredibly, for the successful candidate, their first job is to be working on the Minster’s world-famous masterpiece the Rose Window.
The window is a 16th-century masterpiece in the South Transept currently undergoing a £1.4m rescue and conservation campaign
This is important, said Dr Groll, for them to play a piece in history.
Everyone has day-to-day jobs they put off, she said.
The difference here is in the moments when teams realise they are doing something truly special.
“We get this opportunity to step outside, and go behind the scenes, at some of the greatest buildings in the UK,” she said.
“That is a privilege. These are incredible artworks.”
But while many people may think of the conservator’s work as art, their primary role is in conserving what already exists rather than replacing it - new paintings are more often than not a last resort.
Applications close November 2. The trust had already had around 600 people apply, and are expecting a sudden flurry in coming days as the deadline approaches.
Teams have not started shortlisting yet. They are blown away, they said, by the volume.
“We are getting hundreds of applications through - all of these people are making their case for why we should pick them,” said Dr Groll. “And of course we can only pick one.”
The new applicant must be manually dexterous, able to physically do the work. They must also have an understanding or an interest in the materials and chemicals used.
Ultimately, what teams are looking for is quite a broad, and unique skillset. “They must be good at fine detail,” added Dr Groll. “But also they must be good at having a hammer and chisel in one hand, and climbing a scaffold in the rain.”