~ Gordonstoun School, St Michael’s Kirk ~

In 2010 I removed and restored the windows in this lovely Victorian Chapel, St Michael’s Kirk, which was part of the original grounds of Gordonstoun School, in Moray. The Chapel was tucked away, in woods, next to a pig farm, next to RAF Lossiemouth, where fighter jets take off for practice flights around the Cairngorms at any time, day or night.

The resultant vibration from the jets, has caused the nearby St Michael’s Kirk to become unstable. The staff at the school had placed movement monitors on the stonework. It was becoming obvious that things had reached a critical point.

The Victorian plain lead glazing had been secured, previously, using portland cement, which, although it held the panels very securely within the stone grooves, resulted in many of the panels over-stressing and separating at the solder joints. Some panels were on the point of collapse.

I removed the worst ones, re-leaded their exterior leads, and re-installed them using a softer, more flexible glazing medium, to accommodate the excessive vibration.