The delicate operation to move a church’s 1,000-year-old Viking and Celtic crosses has been completed safely and without damage.

A project, 10 years in the planning, got under way last month to relocate Andreas church’s 11 Manx crosses dating from the 7th to 11th century.

Church authorities and Manx National Heritage had agreed to move the crosses and redisplay them in an improved, secure and more accessible way.

But it proved far more challenging than expected.

Five of the carved stones had been mounted in a concrete plinth constructed in the late 1950s.

But initial trials by MNH's conservation manager Chris Weeks, who was in charge of the operation, discovered that the crosses had been set in ‘weapon grade’ concrete which proved impenetrable to normal angle grinders and drills.

Andreas church volunteer Waveney Jenkins enlisted the help of contractors Island Drainage and Groundwork who have been carrying out roadworks in the village.

They brought in a micro digger fitted with a jack hammer to break up the concrete - not the approach that MNH would have otherwise wanted to take with objects of this vintage and importance.

But skilful operator Paul Downey - with Chris providing detailed instructions and closely observing every inch of progress - managed to gently chip out the bases of the crosses which were luckily not set very deeply into the plinth.

The crosses were then removed, and the MNH team successfully prised almost all the remaining concrete adhering to the bases away without any damage.

Waveney said: ‘It is a huge relief to get them safely out.

'Though none of the crosses were damaged in the extraction, once they were able to look at them properly, they do need some attention.

‘Detailed photographs have been taken of the parts which had been buried - which included a couple of runes on one cross.'

Kirk Andreas’s two large standing cross slabs, Sandulf’s and Gaut’s crosses, were extracted with relative ease despite their bases being buried in concrete to a depth of 2ft.

And the collection of wall-mounted early Celtic fragments were taken down without issue.

It is now possible to design and create their new homes in a better site at the NW corner of the church nave, freeing up space for more communal activities in the hall.

With Christmas services now on the horizon in the church, this will take place in the new year, giving time for preparation of the exhibition, and some cleaning up of the crosses.

There will be a state-of-the-art museum showcase for fragments of small cross slabs of particular value and interest including Thorwald’s cross.

Waveney said: ‘We hope to raise the two big crosses soon.

‘Then the ones not going into the showcase will be set along the back wall with captions and text and QR codes.’

Waveney said the church had received a ‘wonderful’ anonymous donation which should cover nearly all the extra expenses of the operation.

The showcase with specially designed lighting is being brought to the island with assistance from the Steam Packet's Manx Community Assistance Scheme.