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Respect for the masons of old.

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CelticRambler
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Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:19 pm
Location: Central France

Respect for the masons of old.

#1

Post by CelticRambler »

As very briefly alluded to in another thread, last week I started the process of clearing one of my barns to make a "performance space" - mainly for use as a dance hall/ballroom, but with potential for other artistic expressions too. Part one: shift all the 25-to-50-year-old hay from the "side aisle" into the centre, along with as much as possible of the manure underneath (all destined to go into my new terraced veg beds at the end of the month, when one of my sons is here to help shift it)

Anyway, there's a "mezzanine" on each side of the barn, held up by a 10m beam which comes down just enough to make it impossible to get the digger into the higher space on the other side, and the digger's reach isn't quite long enough to do all the grabbing from the centre aisle. So I had to dig out part of the floor to pass under the beam. Not for the first time, I found myself marvelling at the quality of the work done by the masons of so many years ago (this barn is probably about 200 years old) - the side aisles have a raised floor, that slope towards the front, and they're almost perfectly flat - at least as flat as a flagstone floors ever are - even though they're made from big, irregular lumps of quartz.

When you see the state of town centre pedestrianised streets that have been paved only recently with precision cut blocks by a team of contractors with half a dozen engineering degrees between them and three truck-loads of equipment :roll: ... well, those old guys really knew what they were doing.
765489

Re: Respect for the masons of old.

#2

Post by 765489 »

Always wanted to work with real stone. My uncle in Galway does proper stone walls now that he's retired. He's in great demand.
CelticRambler
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Posts: 2573
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:19 pm
Location: Central France

Re: Respect for the masons of old.

#3

Post by CelticRambler »

I've been gradually getting better at building stone walls myself, trying to learn from deconstructing those that are/were already on site ... but also finding the remnants of the old masons' piles of material, and understanding how they were used in the process. In the beginning, I limited myself to dry-stone constructions, but this last year I've "upgraded" to using a natural clay-based mortar, as I'm aiming for a higher level.
marhay70
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:18 pm

Re: Respect for the masons of old.

#4

Post by marhay70 »

I was a big fan of TV shows like "Time Team" and it never ceased to amaze me the quality of workmanship our ancestors employed, not only construction skills but also their knowledge of metallurgy and the fashioning, polishing and setting of precious stones. Even today, it's a pleasure to watch shows such as the "The Repair Shop" and "The Restorers" as it's evidence that these skills haven't vanished but that it takes a lot of patience and dedication to perfect them.
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Osciiboscii
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Re: Respect for the masons of old.

#5

Post by Osciiboscii »

And, for example, Gallarus Oratory / beehive huts, not a stone out of place centuries on.
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