Stone Solid Crew
Have you ever walked into a building and felt ‘this is… wrong’? You can’t quite put your finger on it. But apparently, there are Reasons For This. Not purpley crystal woo bollocks reasons either. Actual proper reasons, grounded in mathematics and geometry and buildings created by people who understand it (no, me neither). I only know this because I had a chat with a master stonemason and his apprentices. Norwich is one of the few places where you can do that, and rather bloody brilliantly, you can too.
Stroll down to Magdalen Street and next door to The Mischief is yet another bloody old church. Except that this one is a bit different because it houses The Guild of St Stephen & St George, where a rather special group of people are learning their trade as apprentices. And blimey Charlie, do I mean learn. This isn’t a tick box course of ‘can pick a chisel up by the handle, everyone gets a certificate at the end’ variety. It’s practically a way of life. This is a profession, not a job.
I don’t understand it. How you actually plan a building. I can see a block of stone and think to myself ‘Yup. Block of stone. Good.’ I can’t make the leap from that to ‘Put that bit here, that one there, few more of those and VOILA. We have a cathedral.’ Or ‘chip a bit here, bit there, and this stone looks like leaves.’ But once trained, these people (yes, people, because contrary to what you might expect, they’re not all blokes) can and do.
The guild isn’t open to the public all the time, so don’t just wander in off the street or you might get told to sod off by the master. But they do have regular open days & workshops around the city, and they also have their fantastically Normal for Norwich processions around the city (the next one is on the 16th June, starting at the cathedral). If you get the chance to have a chat with them, do it. Maybe even have a go yourself…
Find out more about The Guild of St Stephen & St George on their Facebook page or website.
