International Women's Day - Meredith Macbeth

Across International Women’s Day today (March 8) we’ve been celebrating some amazing women who are involved with the work of Orkney Islands Council.

One such woman is Meredith MacBeth who is our Historic Buildings Conservator. 

Based at St. Magnus Cathedral, she coordinates and plans the routine maintenance of the Cathedral and makes sure all work is being done to appropriate standards – and also supports work on other listed buildings and sites owned by the Council too.  

Here’s her story…

“As a young person, I was always interested in how things were made and making things. My path led me to studying art history and museum work. I was drawn to the field of conservation in the museum setting because I liked the idea of caretaking and tending ancient objects. A Conservator preserves an object, attempting to delay decay or deterioration. Restoration is a closely related field, which aims to return the object to its original state or as close as possible.

“I came from the USA to study at the University of Lincoln, England, achieving my MA in the Conservation of Historic Objects. While in Lincoln, I was astonished by Lincoln Cathedral and secured an internship with their Stone/Sculpture Conservation department. I worked there on and off through my studies.

“I moved to Scotland after I completed my MA and was lucky enough again to secure employment with a private Stone Conservation company. I worked on some fantastic sites such as Rosslyn Chapel and St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh amongst others. I returned to the USA and shifted my focus to Stained Glass Conservation/Restoration. Life brought me back to Scotland and my husband and I made the move to Orkney in 2017.

"As a woman in this line of work, I do feel like a rare bird this far north, but during my previous work in the UK and USA, I would say numbers have been equal- male and female. Woman onsite can often be considered a novelty, but I like to say that is changing quickly.

"I’m currently expecting my second child, so this has been a new challenge to talk myself off of scaffold or not to climb up the Cathedral tower as much as I normally would. Maternity safety harnesses don’t seem to exist for some reason!

"Men and woman are different, there is no denying it. As much as I am all about equality- I used to try and carry the 25kg bags of lime as easily as the guys but I realised after a few years and a few injuries that my strength really didn’t need to lie in my physical strength.

"I think that is important for any person- focus on what you are good at or capable of - focus on the positives.

"If I was to give advice to anyone looking to move into this line of work - I would say absolutely investigate! There are so many routes into this field, through university/college learning, trade apprenticeships etc. There is a huge skills shortage in people learning traditional skills and crafts. Most people love historic buildings but might not realise these special places need to be repaired in the same way they were made. If the skills are lost, then our beloved historic buildings will definitely suffer.