A major restoration project has been planned for a decaying historic Highland chapel built in the early nineteenth century by the 12th Lord Lovat.
The Eskadale Trust must fundraise more than £500,000 for “critical” repairs to St Mary’s Chapel at Eskadale, a Roman Catholic church near Aigas in Inverness-shire.
The chapel is unusual as it was built before the emancipation of Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom, with those found to be practicing the faith at the time facing prosecution.
Mia Scott, the restoration project co-ordinator, said water penetration – from room level and ground moisture – has been the biggest issue for the building in recent years.
Damage to the chapel’s exterior harling, interior plasterwork and timber frames inside the roof are among the most serious issues.
But investigative work has now been done and a strategy drawn up for the repair work, which the trust hopes can be done between March and September next year.
Mrs Scott said: “I think in the building’s current condition, time is not on its side.
“There are some quite serious structural issues to be addressed, so I think it is a ‘stitch in time’. We are talking about a half million pound conservation programme, and if nothing is done that figure could double if the work is delayed.”
Mrs Scott said they received a first phase grant of £1,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to commission specialists to undertake vital survey work on the building.
She said they are hoping to source another £220,000 as part of the next phase to carry out the works, while attracting funds from various other trusts and foundations.
The building has undergone previous repair jobs, the last of which took place about 20 years ago on the roof.
Mrs Scott added: “But since it’s been built there has not been such a comprehensive scheme of conservation repairs.”
And she said that after the building is repaired, the trust may also look to reinstate the former ferry crossing between Aigas and Eskadale over the River Beauly, a mode of transport used before the hydro scheme was built there.
Mrs Scott says the idea would be to partner up with the Aigas Community Forest, so that visitors could learn about the work they do to conserve the forest and get the boat across to see the historic chapel.
St Mary’s was originally built in 1827 for the Lovat Frasers as a private chapel and many clansmen have been buried there down the years.
The responsibility of the chapel was passed on to the Eskadale Trust in the 1990s. Mass is still held there once a month.
