INSPECTORS will abseil down Dunfermline Abbey as work begins on the highest parts of the church.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is conducting the review as part of an ongoing programme looking at the impact of climate change on historic structures with high-level masonry over 1.5 metres.
Workers will also be utilising a 73-metre-tall “Mobile Elevating Work Platform” (MEWP) which will allow them to reach the peak of the 11th-century spire.
Grant Black, the high-level masonry programme manager at HES, said: “The spire on the Abbey stands at roughly 40 metres high, making it the tallest site we’ve inspected so-far, which means we need to employ a number of different methods at the site to carry out the inspection programme.
“These tactile inspections, which also involve checking masonry by hand, are helping us to examine the abbey in different ways and will help to manage the site for future generations.”
To help facilitate the works, a minor road closure on St Catherine’s Wynd, from the Life nightclub to the vennel at the Palace Gatehouse, will remain in place until January 17 to provide a safe working distance for the MEWP. The abbey will remain open while the inspections continue throughout January, with occasional safety cordons in place to allow the team space to work.
