A revamped display of ancient Manx crosses has been blessed by the Lord Bishop.

And plans have been unveiled for a pilgrimage route connecting the churches with collections of Viking and Celtic crosses.

The operation to relocate eleven of the artefacts dating from the 7th to 11th century on display at Kirk Andreas was 10 years in the planning.

No one could have foreseen quite how challenging it was going to be.

A micro digger fitted with a jack hammer had to be brought in to extract five of the carved stones from a plinth constructed from 'weapon grade' concrete.

At a special church service on Friday, Lord Bishop the Right Reverend Tricia Hillas blessed the crosses in their new setting in the north west corner of the nave.

Specially designed lighting has been installed to enable all the carved detailing to be clearly seen.

And the fragments of the small cross slabs of particular value and interest that had been freed from their concrete coffin are now on display in a state of the art showcase.

Bishop Tricia said: ‘It’s taken 10 years to get to this point but millennnia in the making.’

Church volunteer Waveney Jenkins told the congregation how the Manx crosses project came about.

She said: ‘In 2014 I went to the British Museum to see the Viking exhibition and there I saw a tiny fragment of a cross suspended in a beautiful clear glass showcase with wonderful lighting.

‘It was our Thorwald’s cross which up to that point had been sitting in the back room here in what used to be the baptistry. To see the back of it you had to crawl around. It was revelatory to see it in its proper setting.

‘I made a vow right then that somehow we would manage to improve the way our crosses were being shown.

‘Well it has taken 10 years. Wonderful people from all over the globe did come to the party and Manx National Heritage have been wonderfully supportive.’

The operation to relocate the crosses was overseen by MNH's conservation manager Chris Weeks.

With chisels and angle grinders not up to the job, Waveney enlisted contractors Island Drainage and Groundworks, who have been carrying out roadworks in the village, to help break up the concrete.

During Friday’s service, Waveney outlined planned for a pilgrimage route linking Kirk Andreas to other churches with collections of Manx crosses including Maughold, Lonan, Braddan, Kirk Michael and Jurby.

She said: ‘They are all over the island. Some churches have more than others.

‘We want to set up a pilgrimage route that can bring people around the various churches and connect them up. That is one of the hopes of what we have done here today.’

Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer, patron of the Manx crosses project, formally opened the new display.

He said: ‘What has been achieved so far is such a wonderful example of the community working together.

‘The historical and educational importance of the crosses is obvious. It also touches on a tourism aspect.’