During the hundred year's war, Agincourt, Joan of Arc and the Hussite crusades, in the 1420s the Great South Window of Canterbury Cathedral carved from blocks of imported French creamy oolitic Caen limestone, was fitted into the southwest transept by unnamed masons.
 
It was said that the cost of sending Caen stone ten miles inland in France doubled its cost, so sending it by sea to Fordwich, two miles from Canterbury, made it an economical stone for the cathedral masons. England remained the largest importer of Caen stone from the 11th century Tower of London until the 18th century. The best beds were 5 or 6 metres deep and were mined in 200 acres of caves.
 
The window was restored using Portland stone in the 1700s and 1860s, and again using Doulting stone in the 1930s, all of which were in evidence on the lots sold with the 1420s Caen stone being most prevalent on the inside surfaces of the window stonework.
 
In 2014 a small piece of stone fell from one of the mullions triggering a full-scale £2.5m replacement of the entire window, this time with none of the old stone reused.
 
Top lots at the auction last Saturday were two springer stones over a metre high and weighing 750kgs for two of the main header arches, mainly early 15th century Caen stone with Victorian restorations of pieced in Portland stone. On one of these pieces was a carved moline cross presumably carved in the 1400s, similar to those occasionally used on old wrought wall ties, and emblematic of the Benedictine monks whose abbey church it was until the Dissolution. The two springers sold for £7,400 each.
 
In his short inaugural speech ahead of the auction the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral said that many pieces of the old window stonework had been freshly carved with a cross and dispersed to Anglican churches around the world. The sale which was conducted free of charge by Canterbury Auction Galleries and broadcast live by The Saleroom. After the sale it transpired that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had watched it on the web and was delighted with the result.
 
The total £210,000 raised will go towards future restoration work. Neither buyer's nor seller's premiums were charged, so the hammer price was the price paid.