Based in Rural Norfolk a modest
building with the muffled sound of tapping emanating from it houses
the legacy of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and
techniques.
Once inside the visitor sees amongst an
array of carved lions heads, acanthus leaves and Greek ornaments one
of the present practitioners of the master masons art working at his
banker (a stonemasons bench) forming intricate designs in an ancient
block of marble with nothing more than a mallet and a chisels.
Stephen Critchley has been a stonemason
for over 30 years and when listening to him talk of his craft you
get a sense of the pride and privilege he feels. Whilst talking to me
of the tools he used he explained how the chisel he was using was
given to him by some past master and is over 100 years old. “We
never dismiss the old tools or techniques purely in the name of
progress.”
He has produced carved work for many of
London's historic and important buildings over his varied career
including Somerset House, The Queen's House, Greenwich and The Palace
of Westminster. “ I have been lucky enough to have worked on some
amazing projects but it's the thought of the ones ahead that excite
me.”
I asked how he could continue working
as we spoke. “ a lot of the skill behind carving is muscle memory
linked with feel and the sound of the chisel striking the marble,
this is why it takes so long to become really proficient”
Stephen has worked in and run modern
workshops over the years but has decided to concentrate now on the
traditional ways of working and hand skills. “Producing individual
pieces as I do, there is very little benefit from working with the
latest machinery, the use of which causes a loss of skill and
quality.”
His main business today consists of
high quality hand carved bespoke fire surrounds but he still produces
garden ornaments, coats of arms and dressed stone for architectural
projects.
A large part of the ethos of this
business is training the next generation “I feel a great pressure
to pass on as many of my skills as possible and keep my craft alive.
I was lucky to have a connected training, which means my apprentice
master started his training in 1948, his master 1920's and his 1890's
and so on. This type of connected experience produces a passed down
knowledge and visual tips such as ocular rectification little known
today. This is what I have to pass on.” Stephen
has trained 11 apprentices to date with one currently just entering
into this fascinating field.
At the end or my visit I felt I was
leaving another world, a scene from another age I hadn't known still
existed but I was happier knowing it did.
(Article from 2012)
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