traditional crafts
Stonemasonry is one of the oldest crafts. Man has worked with stone since the earliest time, although obviously his first ‘product’ probably wasn’t a stone fireplace! His first work with stone was probably smoothing the floor of a cave perhaps, (to get a better night’s sleep?) or maybe chipping off some sharp corners to the cave entrance? Perhaps it was piling up stone to enclose domesticated animals, or simply the shaping of flints into tools and weapons. What is certain, is that man realised the versatility of stone at a very early stage. He realised that it was a very tough and durable material, and that it could help him in many ways to make life easier. He may not have built a sweeping stone stair case for many thousands of years, but he certainly use stone as steps (no matter how crude) or learnt to cut steps into a stone face of slope to enable easier climbing.
He must also have soon realised that some stones were much easier to work than others, and thus adapted different stones for different uses.
Our masons have accumulated similar skills, although they have little in common with those early stone workers. We have access to power tools and massive stone saws so that we can quickly cut stone into blocks that are easier to handle and move. Modern masons’ tools have also benefitted from thousands of years of evolution, and a skilled mason can turn a seemingly dull lump of stone into a stunning stone fireplace or stone staircase with minimal physical exertion. His most important tool is always his eye! He needs to check at every stage that the stone he is removing is going to leave the lovely stone fireplace that the drawings depict.