City steeple re-vamp on track
Leader of the City, Highland Councillor Ian Brown recently inspected major refurbishment works on-going at the 221-year-old Inverness Steeple above Bridge Street and Church Street.
Leader Brown was given a birds-eye tour of the steeple works by contractors Laing Traditional Masonry of Kirkcaldy who were appointed by The Highland Council to carry out the work at an estimated cost of £550,000. The restoration project is being funded by Inverness Common Good Fund and Historic Scotland.
He said: “The current works and scaffolding are clearly visible now on the skyline for all to see and I am pleased to say that good progress is being made on preserving this historic and iconic Inverness structure.”
Scaffolding is currently surrounding the Grade A-listed building to enable the contractor to access areas of worn or damaged stone that require to be replaced or repointed and to remove loose masonry.
Other works will include repairs to the clock face and bell mechanisms and weather vane.
The current steeple is all that remains of a tolbooth 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
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