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Divine Stone

A Sister’s Request

A Sister's Request
Stephen Boyle, former Master Mason and tower construction supervisor, carefully lifts a marble tablet along the circular stone staircase at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine on June 18, 2024. He assisted in bringing the stone, dedicated to James R. Bambridge, the Stoneyard Institute’s Master Builder, to the base of St. Paul’s tower where it will be permanently installed.

One step closer to realizing a sister’s wish.

It took four of us to haul a 30-lb. marble tablet up the narrow, circular, stone staircase to St. Paul’s tower at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Stephen Boyle, former master mason, and I handled the first leg, carefully lifting the marble memorial plaque dedicated to James R. Bambridge, the Stoneyard Institute’s Master Builder, up the seemingly endless staircase. 

Bambridge Tablet
This is a closeup of the memorial stone carved by Cathedral stone cutter Timothy Smith honoring James R. Bambridge, the Stoneyard Institute’s first Master Builder, seen at Tim’s home in Philmont, NY on Oct. 13, 2022.

On hand to lend some muscle were Jim Patterson, Facilities Director at the Cathedral, and David Goughnour, Assistant Facilities Director. Besides the narrow and sometimes dimly lit staircase, we had to maneuver along a narrow catwalk bordering the undulating vaulted ceiling and then up one final, very narrow, corkscrew staircase to the base of the tower.

Up in the Nave
David Goughnour, Assistant Facilities Director, carefully hauls a marble tablet along a catwalk above the vaulting at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine on June 18, 2024. David assisted in bringing the stone, dedicated to James R. Bambridge, the Stoneyard Institute’s Master Builder, to the base of St. Paul’s tower where it will be permanently installed.
Jim Patterson, top, Director of Facilities, and David Goughnour, assistant director, carefully lift a marble tablet along the circular staircase at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine on June 18, 2024.

The idea of delivering the tablet to the tower, which took about a half hour, started almost 10 years ago with a handwritten Air Mail letter from Bambridge’s sister, Doreen Clark, who lives in Yorkshire, England. She was asking for a memorial in honor of her brother, who passed away in 2012. That request came to Timothy Smith, one of the original five stone cutters hired by Bambridge and Dean James Parks Morton in 1979.

JAMES BAMBRIDGE

Bambridge had an extensive resume as a Cathedral builder, one of the few people in the world qualified to take on the job of constructing the towers at St. John the Divine

Master Builder James Bambridge poses for a portrait in the stoneyard shed on July 8, 1981.

He worked on many buildings damaged by bombs during World War II, including the Houses of Parliament. Bambridge also worked in Canada as Master Mason for restoration work at the Anglican Cathedral in St. Johns, Newfoundland. In 1967 he moved to Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral. Later, Bambridge was appointed Master Mason at Wells Cathedral and, in 1979, was asked to help complete St. John the Divine.

Bambridge had to build the stoneyard operation entirely from scratch – there were no architectural blueprints, no stones, no stonecutting equipment and no stone cutters.

Within a few years Bambridge created a dynamic workplace with a crew as large as 30 people employed in various capacities, including cutting stones, creating the schematics, carving the elaborate figures and finally building the tower. His legacy, according to a magazine interview, was “that I can teach another generation of stone cutters.” 

A Sister's Request
Working on the first few courses on St. Paul’s tower, Master Mason Stephen Boyle and Master Builder James Bambridge spread a bed of mortar prior to setting an ashlar on Nov. 9, 1982.

After seven years at the Cathedral, in late 1985 or early 1986, Bambridge returned to England and consulted on the restoration of the historic Grand Buildings in Trafalgar Square, London. With that project finished, Bambridge retired to his small holding in Dorset, England and passed away in 2012.

The Tablet’s Request

Sometime in 2015 or 2016, Timothy Smith received Doreen Clark’s special request.

Timothy said it took only several months to complete the memorial tablet. He consulted with Doreen on his final design.

Then the tablet languished on his porch for several years until he and I had a chance conversation. He told me that the Bambridge tablet and a second tablet in honor of his stoneyard colleagues were ready to be installed at the Cathedral if he had a way to get them there – a two-plus hour drive from Manhattan.

Timothy Smith Tablets
Cathedral Institute stone cutter Timothy Smith looks at the two memorial tablets he carved, seen at his home in Philmont, NY on Oct. 13, 2022. The marble tablet on left recognizes many of the workers who went through the Stoneyard Institute program and the right tablet honors James R. Bambridge, the stoneyard’s first Master Builder.

My wife Stephanie and I had upcoming plans to be in the Berkshires, not far from where Timothy lived. I told him I would pick up the tablets and hold them until we could make arrangements to install them at an appropriate place in the Cathedral. The only hitch was that Timothy and his wife Laurie would be away when we were in the area. He explained that the tablets were on his porch and I could come anytime. 

I requested that he alert the Sheriff’s office so I would not be arrested for theft and trespassing.

In 2023, I carefully packed up the tablets without incident and without having to be bailed out of the local jail.

The Final Location

It took a while to make arrangements for their installation, with Dean Patrick Malloy lending assistance. After our morning’s exertions hauling the Bambridge memorial tablet up to the tower in June 2024, there was still work to be done.

The interior of the tower that started to rise in 1982 is a dark chamber lined primarily with brick and with several louvre doors for ventilation and to allow in some light. It rises over 30 feet to where heavy steel beams, which were to support a 13-bell carillon, form the base of the ceiling. 

Inside the tower
This is a view of the interior of the partially constructed St. Paul’s tower, seen on June 18, 2024. Stephen Boyle and Robert F. Rodriguez delivered a memorial tablet honoring James R. Bambridge, the Master Builder, to the chamber. Bambridge’s sister, Doreen Clark, requested that a memorial for her brother be set in the tower.

In the dim light Stephen Boyle and Jim Patterson checked a few areas on the walls for a suitable location to permanently place the plaque. They will devise a mounting system to keep the marble tablet secure and I will look into having a photo of Bambridge displayed in a weatherproof frame to accompany the tablet.

A Sister's Request
Master Mason Stephen Boyle and Jim Patterson, Director of Facilities at the The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, examine a wall on St. Paul’s tower for permanent installation of the tablet. June 18, 2024.

Once the tablet is secured, Stephen and I hope to have a formal dedication and blessing of the tablet by Cathedral clergy sometime in the fall.

A sister’s request will then be fully honored.

A Sister's Request
Artist-in-Residence Robert F. Rodriguez and Master Mason Stephen Boyle pose with the memorial tablet for Master Builder James R. Bambridge after it was safely delivered to the tower on June 18, 2024.
  • All images in this article were taken by the author, photojournalist and Cathedral Artist-in-Residence, Robert F. Rodriguez.