Carving in stone
Stone mason and carver, Alex Wenham

Stone mason and carver Alex Wenham has come along to this Time Team dig to help with the reconstruction cameo. The cameo producer, Melisa Akdogan, invited Alex to try to carve a replica section of architectural stone that once was part of the Brigittine abbey. The Time Team website caught up with Alex to find out all about stone carving and masonry.

When did you first get interested in working with stone?
Just a few years ago. I went to the Building Crafts College in London and that's where I first started to play with stone.

Is it your full time job?
I work for a big firm called Stonewest and also do private pieces. It's great. I get to do lots of interesting work and meet lots of interesting people. With Stonewest I do large-scale restoration projects in London – like the House of Commons, where we have lots of masons all working together. The rest of the time I do smaller stuff like carvings, fireplaces and public artwork.

What's the difference between stone carving and stone masonry?
Stone masonry is more about the general shaping of the stone, usually for architectural purposes. It's about working to templates and measurements. Stone carving is much more about working by eye and creating artistic features like figurines.

What are you working on for Time Team?
I'm doing a replica of one face of a piece of stone that used to be a part of the abbey here. The original piece resides with the remaining Brigittine order, who now live in Devon. As I've only got three days I'm just concentrating on doing a figure in an alcove with some carving on the top.

What would the original piece have been used for?
It was actually part of a pinnacle, possibly over a gatehouse.

What type of stone are you using?
This is called Cream Richmont and it comes from France. It's one of a number of fairly soft limestones that are good for this type of carving job. The original is made out of Caen stone, which is hard to get hold of today because the original quarries have been worked out.

What are the properties of Richmont stone?
The particles in the stone are very tightly knitted together, so it's ideal for carving, but it is quite soft. You wouldn't want it anywhere where people could knock it. It's too fragile. It would suit an indoor or out-of-the-weather application, such as a ceiling or under an arch.

Does the stone have a natural stratigraphy?
We call it a bed or bedding plain. In a stone like this it's very fine. If you imagine a pack of cards lying flat on a table you can put lots of pressure on them without any problems. However, if you put the pack on its side it can easily fall apart with little stress. Richmont is what we call a free stone. The bed is so fine you can work the stone in lots of directions.

What tools are you using?
The tools that I'm using would be completely recognisable to a medieval stone mason – mallets and chisels et cetera. We have a few advantages like tungsten-tipped chisels which don't need sharpening all the time, but basically it's the same tool kit.

Why do you use lead and brass hammers?
We call them dummies. It's basically a question of weight. The great thing about lead is that it absorbs shock from a blow and it's great for carving, you have a lot of control. I made the lead hammer myself by pouring lead into a small terracotta flower pot buried in the ground and then breaking it open after the lead had cooled down.

Is there a trick to getting it right?
You basically have to have confidence that you can do the job. You need to look at a piece of stone, know what you want it to be, and have the confidence to say, 'Yes, I can do it.'

What's the best part of the job, working the stone or admiring the finished job?
Good question. Both I suppose. I really like working the stone but I also like to see the finished piece. When you are doing architectural stone it is never worked on its own, you are always making a part of a built piece. When something like an archway comes together that's really enjoyable.

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