The Smithonian's take on a previous story-Westminster Abbey is one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions, but the vast majority of visitors have never seen its best feature: the view of the church’s interior from the triforium, a space used as an attic in the upper levels of the church. It was called “the finest view in Europe” by Sir John Betjeman, former poet laureate of Great Britain. That space is being remodeled into a museum, and in the process of cleaning it out, reports Maev Kennedy at The Guardian, researchers discovered 30,000 shards of stained glass from over the course of centuries of changes at the church. Those shards have since been conserved and are being reconstituted into new displays for a recently built tower.
Kennedy reports that archaeologist Warwick Rodwell first noticed the shards of glass glittering among dust and dirt in five-foot deep cone-shaped pits created by the cathedral’s vaulted ceilings. “Once I saw the glass, the penny dropped,” he said. “I realized this was treasure, not rubbish, and we would have to go through every inch of it. The workmen thought I was mad.”
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http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/30000-shards-historic-stained-glass-found-westminster-abbeys-attic-180967663/#ClH3dK86SMAtDTuC.99
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