Following the excitement of the Medieval Lismore weekend, and the unveiling of the cleaned stones in their new shelter (see 28 July and 8 -10 August blogs), the graveslabs project has been progressing steadily, with the hope that the job will be complete before the end of October.
At the unveiling, the shelter roof was unfinished (only the marine plywood “sarking” in place) and it was important to install the metal covering as soon as possible, in case we had an early autumn gale. With the willing cooperation of MBS, the materials arrived on 20 August and the green metal roof was successfully installed by Mike Rayworth and Dan Fox. After yet another wet day on the project, they were both ready for a holiday break.
Because the stones differ in shape, size and degree of damage, it was not possible to finalise the designs of the fixings and supports until they were in place. Decisions have now been made following discussions between Mike Rayworth, Colin Rowan and Duncan Drysdale, and the metalwork is being manufactured. Oak “shoes” to support the irregular bases of some of the stones are being prepared by Mike. The biggest challenge is to support the two broken stones.
Until the fixings are available, the stones will be held safely and securely by ropes and wood and stone wedges.
Meanwhile, the designs for the three interpretation boards have been completed by Lynn Vesco and the proofs checked for English and Gaelic. They are now being manufactured and will shortly be ready for mounting (two on lecterns in front of the shelter, and one on the churchyard wall nearer the church).
An unexpected problem arose when we examined the cleaned Lady Stone – it seemed that, although her clothes identified her as a woman, she appeared to have a beard. However, the problem was resolved when, with the help of David Caldwell, we could see that the “beard” is probably the fixing of a close-fitting head-dress (see the image of a clergyman from Oronsay
Image here (Graveslab of Canon Bricius MacMhuirich on Oronsay)
