Weather vane displayed in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery.
Members of the public have a once in a lifetime chance to see up close a gilded cockerel weather vane that normally adorns the top of Inverness steeple, on the corner of Bridge Street and Church Street.
As part of the estimated £550,000 renovations of the Grade A-listed building, the 3metre high weather vane which features a cockerel on top of two orbs, was removed and renovated by contractors Laing Traditional Masonry.
While other works to repair or replace loose, worn or damaged masonry stone and repairs to the clock face and bell mechanisms are ongoing The Highland Council has loaned the weather vane to High Life Highland’s Inverness Museum and Art Gallery so that it can go on public display.
Provost of Inverness Councillor Alex Graham said: “This is an excellent opportunity to see a part of Inverness’s history. I am delighted that Inverness Museum and Art Gallery has been able to give the weather vane a home while the works on the steeple take place. Come and see the weather vane now before it goes back to its position high above the Inverness rooftops.”
Cait McCullagh, Assistant Curator at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery said: “We know that this fine Invernessian bird was fashioned by Hugh Shaw, tinsmith and hardware merchant of Castle Street, at some time in the late 19th Century. It may have replaced an earlier bird crowing over the original 18th Century structure, as the current renovations, commissioned by The Highland Council, have revealed that the wrought iron shaft inserted to support the vane in c.1820 supplanted an original timber one.
“It is believed that at one time, when the Burgesses were complaining that the vane had become stuck and no-one could tell which direction the wind was blowing a local gunsmith was given permission to fire a shot from Castle Hill to tip the tail of the Cockerel and loosen it to sway again with the wind. Come on in and take a close look; you may even see the dent created when the shot hit its mark!”
The works at Inverness Steeple are funded by Inverness Common Good Fund and Historic Scotland. The current steeple is all that remains of a tollbooth building erected in 1791 at a total cost of £3,400. Built by the architect William Sibbald of Edinburgh, the steeple is 130 feet high and although badly twisted by an earthquake in 1816, it was straightened some years later.