Ruskin Lane Consulting Spring 2014 | Page 6
NEWSROUND
NEWSROUND
Centenary Memorials Restoration
Fund launched
New Kilpatrick Parish Church war memorial prior to commencement of the conservation works
© Friends of New Kilpatrick Parish Church
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n 2014, the nation will mark the
centenary of the start of the First
World War and war memorials will
be a focal point for communities
across Scotland. The Centenary Memorials
Restoration Fund (CMRF) is a scheme
through which the Scottish Government is
making £1million available for the repair
and conservation of war memorials.
Funded by Historic Scotland, and
administered by War Memorials Trust, the
CMRF is accepting and processing
applications for funding. A Conservation
Officer based in Edinburgh manages the
scheme and provides conservation advice
to those making applications. They will
promote the fund to communities, local
authorities and interested organisations to
ensure war memorials across the country
benefit from the funding.
The fund is expected to operate until
March 2018 and is open to war memorials
of all types and from any conflict.
Conservation and repair are at the heart
of the CMRF, and the scheme promotes
conservation best practice to ensure that
works do not damage war memorials or
destroy historic fabric. The fund aims to
protect and conserve memorials for
centenary commemorations and for many
years ahead.
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In the past, joints have been pointed with
cement mortar, and are now cracked or
missing which means that water is getting
into the memorial. In addition, past repair
work to the stone boundary wall is
unsightly and starting to fail. The grant of
£17,901 will support cleaning and repair
work to the stone and bronze elements of
the memorial. In addition, existing cement
joints will be removed and repointed with
a lime mortar, and sensitive repair work
will be undertaken to the boundary wall.
Another example is the New Kirkpatrick
Church war memorial, which has suffered
from graffiti, weather erosion (the
memorial was originally located outside)
and previous unsuitable conservation work.
All these factors have led to the decay of
the sandstone resulting in the loss of
sections of caved stone and fading
inscriptions. The grant of £9,107 will help
fund repair and stabilisation works to the
sandstone, removal of the existing joints
and re-pointing using a lime mortar,
removal of graffiti and the repainting of the
memorial inscriptions.
Over time the painted inscription on the
Fair Isle war memorial have similarly worn
away. This has made the inscription difficult
to read. A grant of £448 will support work
to repaint the existing inscription. A
Second World War inscription will be
added to the memorial, this will include the
name of L/Corporal Stewart Wilson who
died 4th March 1943, aged 29, whilst in
action in Tunisia, North Africa.
Allana Hughes,
Conservation Officer (Scotland)
War Memorials Trust
Fair Isle war memorial prior to commencement of the
conservation works © Shetland Islands Council
There has been significant interest in the
CMRF and by early 2014, 13 war
memorials across Scotland have shared
grant offers totalling £126,100. These
include Cupar's war memorial, which faces
a number of issues. Exposure to weather
and pollution has resulted in a build-up of
dirt and biological growth on the stone, as
well as corrosion of the bronze elements.
THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND
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SPRING 2014
Completed applications are assessed for grant
funding, which is normally up to 75% of the
eligible costs to a maximum grant of £30,000.
Assessment is carried out in rounds on the
following dates each year: 28th February, 31st
May, 31st August and 30th November.
For more information, contact the War
Memorials Trust's Conservation Officer in
Scotland on telephone 07419 372 904 / 0300
123 0764 or email [email protected].
There is comprehensive advice about the
CMRF in the Principles and Eligibility Criteria
and Guidance Notes which can be found at
www.warmemorials.org/grants-scotland.
Scotland’s home front heritage
revealed
A
n extensive audit, by RCAHMS
and Historic Scotland, has
uncovered many previously
unknown details of Scotland's
First World War heritage. The records of
830 sites and buildings were created or
updated, and are now available to view
online on the RCAHMS Canmore database.
Even the researchers appear to have
been caught off guard by the extent of the
new discoveries. The project summary notes
that the records were “more than double
the number expected at the outset”. They
included 64 air stations, nearly half of which
had not previously been listed in Scotland's
record of sites.
Results of the audit can be viewed at
www.rcahms.gov.uk/firstworldwar
Inchinnan airship hanger, Renfrewshire
Inchinnan was a centre for the manufacture
of rigid airships – like the Zeppelin – rather
than the non-rigid airships that dominated
British military balloon opera tions.
Construction of the vast airship shed was
funded by the Admiralty and construction
by the Arrol Company began in January
1916, work being completed by September.
The shed measured 213m by 46m by 30m
high and had large wind-screens at both
ends to protect the balloon from crosswinds when emerging from its shed.
View of the construction of Inchinnan airship shed in 1916. Courtesy of RCAHMS SC684437
Stobs Castle Camp, Winningtonrig,
Scottish Borders
This military training camp at Stobs was
established in 1902. As contemporary
photographs show, the core buildings of the
camp were supplemented by large tented
encampments as units, delivered to the site
by railway to the camp's station, used the
training area. The 3rd epoch OS map,
surveyed in 1917, shows not only the PoW
camp to the north, but also the buildings of
the training camp. The map labels the men's
hutments (about 14 buildings), a YMCA
Institute and a separate officers' mess. The
4th epoch map, surveyed in 1938, shows
exactly the same layout of buildings. Modern
satellite photography shows that further
huts were added to the core of the camp
during the Second World War, and also that
all the building footings of the core camp
survive. Two of the original buildings seem
to survive in situ, at NT 50241 09242 and
NT 50242 09240.
Aerial view centred on Stobs Military Camp and WWI PoW camp, taken from the southwest. Courtesy of RCAHMS DP026883
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