The archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology North have arrived on the island and are setting up their equipment ready to begin digging George Quayle's slipway. To prepare for this, local building firm Ryzack Construction Limited have been hard at work removing the stairways and balconies from the area.
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| The yard/ slipway cleared for excavation |
Plant hire specialist JCK have created a bridge from scaffolding that will allow a mini digger to remove spoil from the yard......
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| Access platform for mini digger |
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| The view of the boathouse and the platform for the mini digger |
...... and out through the disused adjacent cellar. Ryzack Construction opened up doorway for us that had been blocked in the 1950's or 1960's. This will be the route the archaeologists use to remove the spoil from their dig, estimated at 100 tonnes (!).
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| The new doorway. The yard/ slipway is on the left, Quayle's stable yard on the right |
This is an unpublished sketch of George Quayle's coach yard from the Manx National Collection IOMMM 1954-5420 signed R.S. Buckingham, 1941. In it you can clearly see, amongst other things, an opening, lower right, giving on to the cellar, or undercroft. This is the opening we have re-established. We have been very careful to take into account Paul Drury's work on the relative significance of the modern additions to Quayle's buildings.
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| IOMMM 1954-5420 'Harness Rooms, Bridge House, Castletown, April 1941 |
And this is how the same view appears right now.....
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| Harness rooms and cellar, from the stable yard |
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