We’ve been very busy at the Cathedral over the last three months trying to get as much work done as possible in order to fulfil the requirements of a government grant. * The deadline has passed and we’ve just said goodbye to the 3 contract masons we’ve had working with us over the last three months helping to get the work done. The workshop is rather a lot quieter, which is a shame, but there’s no time to relax as there is still a lot more work to be done.

Over the last three months I have spent most of my time working on the building, punctuated by trips with fellow stonemason, James Bayliss, to Canterbury, Winchester and Worcester Cathedrals for the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF) course that we are on. The transport and living costs for this are supported by the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire. This course continues to provide me with a lot to think about (along with a lot of extra work!) but is also lot of fun. I am told the Headley Trust who sponsor me also support the CWF and it is good to report that their courses are so well run and provide all I had hoped they would -and more. When I visited Canterbury Cathedral in January I was introduced to a module on the theory and practice of conservation, which was taught through a mixture of informal lectures and visits to Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and the Reform Club in London (as well as a detailed tour of Canterbury Cathedral. I had to put what I had learned into action a month later by giving a 20 minute presentation on the state of a damaged niche at Winchester Cathedral. I think it went quite well, but am yet to receive a mark… I am now working on the next module, architectural history and archaeology, part of the teaching of which was delivered at Winchester Cathedral, by two cathedral archaeologists and Gloucester Cathedral’s own multi-skilled Master Mason, Pascal Mychalysin. I am now writing an essay which discusses the development of church architecture, so that I can build a more in depth knowledge of Gloucester Cathedral.

The chance to be involved with the conservation of ancient buildings is one of the things which attracted me to stonemasonry, whilst the opportunity to indulge my interest in architectural history is an added bonus. Needless to say I am thoroughly enjoying the course so far.

The Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship also provides a chance to see parts of a building few people ever get to see, such as these fascinating ceiling bosses which were being conserved at Winchester Cathedral


As for work that I have been doing personally - for the most part I have been dismantling the parapet of the South Chantry Chapel of the Lady Chapel. This has been a challenge because most of the stone needs to be kept and only the mullions (the upright supports) are being replaced. You can see me in the next picture fixing a new merlon (upright section) to the parapet. I hope to have some pictures of myself working on the rebuilding of the rest of the parapet for my next update.

In the following picture I am fixing the springing stone which is the first element of the hood mould.

Finally, I have finished working the half a quatrefoil window.

The picture above shows the finished stone and me pointing it after fixing.

I am certain that over the coming spring and summer months I will have plenty of interesting work to tell you about in my next update. In the meantime let’s cross our fingers for some good weather

* Post Script

I would like to add a short explanation for this.

In 2015 Gloucester Cathedral was awarded funding through the World War One Fund for the exterior work on the Lady Chapel. This needed to be achieved by the end of March 2016. Unfortunately, although technically we should have had 12 months in which to carry out the work, in reality we did not know the outcome of our application until June 2015. This made life rather difficult for our small band of masons and the very difficult decision had to be taken, to employ 3 extra masons on a short term contract for 3 months, otherwise the work would not have been achievable and we would have lost far more in grant money than it actually cost to employ 3 qualified masons for 3 months!

It’s a strange world………

Margaret Brown

Development Manager