Experts have unravelled the mystery of stained-glass fragments anonymously returned to one of Scotland’s most historic churches.

The saga began in November 2020 when a box turned up out of the blue at Dunfermline Abbey Church. The box contained stained glass wrapped in a newspaper dated 2005, and an anonymous typewritten note.

It read: “Hello there, I am returning some stained glass that I found over 20 years ago. It was in a small pile below the scaffold that was erected by the Abbey, near footpath facing west. I wrapped it up in paper to protect it but never had the chance to return it. Unsure if was new glass going in or old coming out. I felt a bit guilty taking it and hope it will get used. Regards, CEEPS”.

The package proved to be a real headscratcher for the congregation because it was impossible for them to identify which one of the 10 fully intact stained-glass windows in the church the pieces belonged to.

After a fruitless social media appeal for information, Dr Rennie eventually turned to Professor Michael Penman, Professor of History at the University of Stirling, in 2023 for help. He enlisted the assistance of his friend, Dr Craig Kennedy of the Institute for Sustainable Building Design at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. The pair were aided by Vivienne Kelly, a PhD student supervised by Dr Kennedy.

Using a combination of science, history and visual analysis, they worked out that the glass was originally part of the Margaret Window, dating from 1932. Designed by Alexander Strachan, the window shows the marriage of Queen Margaret and King Malcolm Canmore. Ms Kelly said her ‘best guess’ was that the window was damaged by a scaffolding pole during refurbishment work in the late 1990s.

Dr Rennie said: “We are delighted that the mystery of where this glass originally came from has finally been unravelled.

“We still have no idea who CEEPS is and why they decided to return it to the Abbey when they did, but we are grateful.”