Stonemasons
You can see examples of the stonemasons' work in the photo gallery.
The Works Yard at Gloucester Cathedral is in Pitt Street and was set up in 1989 in order to carry out all the necessary work of conserving and maintaining both the Cathedral and the Precinct houses (all of which are listed buildings, a number being listed Grade I).
The current staff working in the Works Yard are the Site Manager, who has overall responsibility for the work, the Master Mason, and a team of three masons and two apprentice masons, the Maintenance Foreman, who is a skilled carpenter and his team of two, who are painters and builders.
With this range of skills, most of the work in keeping the unique collection of historic buildings at Gloucester Cathedral in good order can be done “in house”.
Keeping a good specialist stonemasonry team at the Cathedral is essential if the work of conservation and restoration is to be done to the highest standards. The Master Mason has been responsible for training some forty masons during his time at the Cathedral and as a master carver, is responsible for some of the intricate carving for which the Cathedral is famous. At the moment he is working on carving new gargoyles for the South Aisle.
The workshop is one of only nine attached to cathedrals in England and we consider it to be important to enable craftsmen and women to continue the work of centuries past and to leave a legacy of skill and beauty for future generations.