LOST stained glass windows which once adorned Dunfermline Abbey could shed new light on Scotland's religious past.

During the Protestant Reformation of 1560, most of Scotland's Catholic churches faced widespread destruction, with items considered idol-worshipping targeted and destroyed.

Now two researchers are looking to piece together the medieval shards using scientific and historical knowledge to understand the physical and chemical properties of the medieval stained glass, as well as its wider religious meaning.

Dr Craig Kennedy, Heriot-Watt University’s Institute for Sustainable Building Design, and Dr Michael Penman, a historian from Stirling University, have taken on the project.

Just 16 pieces of glass have been found in the remains of destroyed windows at Dunfermline Abbey, making accurately imagining the full artwork challenging.

Dr Kennedy said: "It is fascinating that a site of such national importance as Dunfermline Abbey has yielded so few glass shards to date.

"This site, Scotland’s national mausoleum, yielded red, white and blue glass samples.

"This site had a highly spiritual connection with St Margaret and we can assume that high-quality narrative glass was at some time installed in the Abbey."

The pair are also looking at Elgin Cathedral, where 30 shards were found, and have there been able to narrow down the age of the glass to part of a century and use scientific techniques to determine where it was produced.

They are being supported by Helen Spencer, who carried out the analysis of glass from Elgin, and Tom Turpie, who contributed research on cults and popular religion in the pre-Reformation era.

During the Reformation stained glass windows were smashed and buried on-site, or otherwise left to decay, and were replaced by austere, plain glass.

Dr Penman said: "If you visit the great medieval churches at Canterbury, Westminster or York, the stained glass windows are the main attraction for visitors, alongside the paintings on the walls.

"In medieval times, most of the congregation would have been illiterate, so stained glass and paintings would have been the best way to address them.

"Nowhere else would they have seen anything so colourful and lavish. They were positioned and designed based on when the light would move round the church and shine through to best effect.

"You can step inside these cathedrals and get a real sense of what congregants would have experienced, sitting for worship several times a day, basked in colour.

"In Scotland, the Reformation was much more destructive, and absolutely nothing remains in place.

"We want to try and recreate this experience and learn more about medieval daily life by combining historical research with scientific findings."