Repair of Pointing, Copes and Skews Underway

by Graham Swanson September 26, 2019 conservation

Mixing of Lime Mortar for repairs is a skilled job.

We are now well underway with the repair of the pointing, copes and skews element of the Phase 2 repairs to address major leaks at the kirk. This work mainly involves lime mortar repairs to prevent water ingress.

The “copes” are the stones which are at the top of walls. Over time the lime mortar between the stones has been washed away, allowing rain to penetrate the wall.

At the bottom left is a big gap between the coping stones. Water penetrating here can damage the wall below.

The skews are the lime mortar at the join between roofs and the walls. Again over time these can be damaged or washed away.

A view of a typical skew (Join between the wall and roof)

Finally repointing is the renewal of the lime mortar between stones in the wall. This can be needed due to sections being missing, or in some cases where previous repairs have used inappropriate material which is not breatheable.

The gable wall at the Rose Window is being repointed. This has needed the removal of the Rose window as the window was too unstable to be left in place. The costs for the Rose Window repair are needing to be raised… see our Cheer up a Cherub post

The work at the kirk will take approximately 8 weeks.

The work has been part funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund/Historic Environment Scotland with additional support from Dalrymple Donaldson Fund, All Churches Trust, Scottish Churches Trust and Baird Trust.