Manx crosses

Tindle News

Work begins on delicate operation to move fragile 1,000-plus year old Viking and Celtic crosses from a Manx church

Transcript

00:00So with Chris Weeks from Manx National Heritage, involved in an incredibly tricky, delicate

00:19operation to move 11, I think, Manx crosses from Andrea's church, and I think he knew

00:28the operation was going to be difficult, but have you been surprised at just how difficult

00:32it has been?

00:33Yeah, I mean, most of them came out fine. They were either attached to the walls or they

00:40were standing in the floor roughly where I'm standing right now, and those were, despite

00:45their size, relatively easy to move. But the remaining five or six are very, very difficult

00:53because they've actually been moved here in 1958, we believe, and cast into a giant block

01:01of concrete, which is really very, very tough. It's not the way that we had imagined they

01:07would have mounted them. It's not the construction of the plinth that we had imagined. And so

01:12we've had to change tactics and bring in some very heavy machinery to try and break it up.

01:17It's not what you would like to do with objects of this vintage and importance.

01:25Yeah. I think you described concrete as weapons-grade.

01:28Yes, weapons-grade concrete. Yes, it really is quite a tour de force. Whoever made this did

01:33a very, very good job.

01:35So have you tried various techniques to extricate them?

01:38Well, obviously we started with hand tools and angle grinders, but it was quite clear that

01:45to degrade this structure using those methods would take several weeks.

01:50Yeah.

01:50So we've had to abandon that. And there's a lot of vibration involved in what we're doing

01:56here, and it's not ideal, but it is the only way. And it is actually all in several good

02:01causes. The redevelopment of this area of the church, the redisplay of the crosses, it's

02:07all very positive. Yeah.

02:09This particular stage isn't particularly positive for me, personally.

02:13And you've enlisted the help of some contractors who were doing some road works in Andriot's.

02:19Yes, indeed. Yes, yes. Some very friendly, very friendly contractors here who are operating

02:25this machinery, which is quite beyond me.

02:27And probably not the sort of job that they normally used to.

02:30Oh, well, I shouldn't have thought so. Although, you know, in fact, encountering a block of

02:35concrete like this is not entirely normal.

02:38No.

02:38For anybody.

02:39No.

02:39But, yeah.

02:40So it must be very stressful.

02:42Oh, well, yeah. You kind of have to park the stress, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn't

02:48be able to get through it.

02:49Yes. And you've managed to get one of the crosses out of the really difficult point.

02:56Yes, yes. You've found us just at the stage where we've managed to get one out. It came

03:00out, I would say, very cleanly.

03:02Okay. And any prospect of it being any easier getting the other ones out or actually more

03:06difficult?

03:06My doubt is I think it's going to get, it's going to be harder in some ways from here on

03:11in, but we will see.

03:12And that's just because of where they're positioned and it's difficult to get the kit into the right

03:16process. It's difficult. And obviously we're indoors now with low ceiling and very little

03:22space to manoeuvre. So it's not easy at all. But, you know, a skilful operator of the machine,

03:29so we should be all right.

03:30Okay.

03:46So, let's go.

04:00Okay.

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