NEWS: Rosslyn Repairs On The Rocks

MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 10, 2010, Saturday

REPAIRS to Rosslyn Chapel will be delayed for at least a year following the collapse of the historic chapel's stonemasons.

Stonemasons Hunter Clark, which was founded in 1900 by Glasgow masons Thomas Hunter and William Clark, folded last month leaving around 168 people unemployed.

The £9 million repair work - which was partly funded by a donation from Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks following the chapel's appearance in the blockbuster - has been left half finished.

The chapel trust will now have to fork out more money in administration fees to find a new contractor to complete the job, and costs may rise even further if the new contractors present them with a higher revised estimate for completion.

Rosslyn had hoped to have the repair work fully completed this month in time for their peak summer season, but they have been forced to re-tender for the remainder of the work and don't expect to have it finished until at least summer 2011.

However, the good news for the chapel is that work on the roof, which has been hidden under canvas for over a decade, had been completed before Hunter Clark folded and it is set to be fully unveiled later this month.

Colin Glynne-Percy, director for the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, said: "The roof has been hidden for around 13 years, well before its profile was raised by the Da Vinci Code so many of the fans of the book will not have seen the chapel in its full glory.

"We have also removed the internal scaffolding that was obscuring the ceiling inside in time for the peak summer season."

The intricately-carved ceiling, made up of rectangles and cubes, has confounded historians for generations. Many have claimed that the ceiling contains some kind of message, and more recent research has put forward the theory that it may be a form of musical notation.

However, photos may have to wait as the floor is still half finished. Visitors were banned from taking photos of the chapel's ancient interior after a number of people tripped or fell while gazing up at the ornate carvings on the ceiling.

Mr Glynne-Percy said: "Overall, work on the chapel is about 50 per cent complete. We had hoped to have it finished by now but it looks like its going to have to wait until next year.

"The previous estimate for the job was £9 million, and we hope the final bill won't be much higher than that."