The glass of nV dates to the mid-1180s, only fifteen years or so after Becket was killed. When King Henry IV and his wife were buried next to Becket's shrine in the early fifteenth century (their tomb is still there), the lower parts of nV and its neighbour nVI were lost to allow for the construction of a chantry chapel for the royal couple dedicated to Edward the Confessor.

The glass does not seem to have been disrupted in the course of the Reformation, but some glass from nV may have been lost when the Puritan iconoclast Richard Culmer smashed out portions of the cathedral's glass in December 1643. Two medieval panels were taken from nV and placed in the Great South Window in 1792.

By the late 19th century, the window was only partially filled with stained glass. To make up for the losses, the glazier Samuel Caldwell Sr installed four replacement panels in the window in 1894 (panels which remain in the window today).

The present appearance of nV is the result of major work undertaken in 1919-1920 by the glazier Samuel Caldwell Jr, who returned the two nV panels from the Great South Window, repaired all of the glass, and put the panels in their present arrangement. As part of his repairs, CAldwell Jr replaced many of the weakened of fragile pieces with his own painted replacements.

Since 1920, the glass of nV has been removed three times: in 1939, along with the rest of the cathedral's glass, for safety during the war; in 2003 for cleaning and minor repairs; and in 2018 for investigation of the windows medieval content.