The 1,000th stone cut became a milestone reached by the stone yard. Therefore church and diocesan officials and the apprentices celebrated the event. The completion of the towers of St. Peter and St. Paul requires 24,000 stones in all. These two towers are on the cathedral’s west front. The 1,000th stone will go up on the southwest tower. It sits here on Timothy Smith’s banker.
Apprentice Timothy Smith, who had some prior experience working with stone, won the lottery to carve the 1,000th stone. He cut it from a block of Indiana limestone. It is an intricately carved pier stone with base. The stone weighs about 1,350 pounds.
The following photo appeared in The Living Church. It is the 130 year old publication of the Episcopal Church in America.
Under the guidance of the master builder and the master mason, the 12 apprentices are learning to cut and “boast” the stones. The boasting patterns, used on the exposed exterior surfaces, are individual and unique to the style of each stone cutter. A boasted finish is also called a droved finish. This type of finish contains intermittent parallel lines which are horizontal or vertical or inclined. A boaster chisel creates the finish. The chisel has a width of approximately 60mm. As a result this finish allows the small play of light and shadow on the highly placed stone that is more significant than a smooth surface.
The Proud Dean
Dean Morton took advantage of opportunities to show off the stone yard. One such opportunity was the recent milestone reached with the cutting of the 1,000th stone. At left, tight rope walker and celebrity Phillipe Petit is looking over the stone with the dean and Timothy Smith in his favorite red hat.
