Stone Dust in My Blood

The third generation stonecutter grew up in the village of Priddy in Somerset, England, in the Mendip Hills. At the age of 16 he went to nearby Wells Cathedral, which was dedicated in 1239, and told them he wanted to be a stonecutter. They took him on as an apprentice, their first in 20 years. For the next 13 years he learned from some of the best stone craftsmen around, including the value of patience.

I had no talent and I had no idea what a chisel or a mallet was but I guess I had stone dust in my blood and I was eager to learn.

– Alan Bird

While Alan worked on restoration at Wells Cathedral, he must have walked under the signature scissor arches hundreds of times. Three of these arches were installed around 1338 by master mason William Joy. The cathedral was complete by then, but a combination of subsidence and a newly improved heavier tower lead to cracks and concerns. The scissor arches (also referred to as strainer arches) at Salisbury preceded the ones at Wells by a few years. The arches relieve the central crossing tower’s weight on the crossing piers. They have been doing their job for centuries.

In 1980, Master Builder Jim Bambridge offered Alan an opportunity to work at the Stoneyard Institute of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He would be taking over for Chris Hannaway who returned to England. The 29 year old had never been to America, had never been on a plane.  He came for a two week visit to see what it was all about.  The differences between New York and home were stark. “You have to understand,” said Alan “I came from a quaint, historic part of England, 30 miles from Stonehenge. There was nothing to do but romp around the field and search for arrowheads.”  He stayed – for the stone, for an opportunity to see that first stone on the southwest tower, a stone on stone new build, not a restoration.

Destined to be a natural leader, Alan saw that first stone set, the cornerstone of the southwest tower. Several thousand more were cut and carved and fixed on the tower. In 1986, Alan and the nine other craftsmen he supervised saw the tower go up 9 feet. He oversaw the stoneyard at the Cathedral for 10 years, finished stones, trained new apprentices and saw the tower rise  a total of 50 feet. 

During Alan’s time at the Cathedral, there was another master mason at the Cathedral. Stephen Boyle was brought in by Jim Bambridge to oversee the fixing of the newly cut stones on the southwest tower. The Yorkshireman trained at Chichester and Salisbury. During the building season, controlled by weather, Stephen would be up on the tower. Who better to speak about Alan than a similarly trained and skilled colleague. Steve tells us this…

“Alan was the first member of the Stoneyard crew that I met when I was interviewed. At the time he was working in the setting-out shop as well as running the stone yard.  From what I remember, the setting out was what had originally attracted Alan to the project at SJD, as there was the chance to learn from Bambridge how to set out loadbearing stonework on a very large scale for a brand-new project. There were few other projects at the time that could offer this kind of opportunity to broaden one’s knowledge. Alan would have to uproot his family and leave the UK in order to participate. Of course, there would’ve been plenty of setting out at Wells but on a much smaller scale and for reproducing historic work rather than for a new structure. Alan spent quite a lot of time in the setting out shop when he first arrived at the cathedral, but stone production demands soon meant that Alan had to dedicate his full time to the stone cutting operations. Jeep (Kincannon) and Cynthia (Linton) subsequently took over the setting out.

“Running the stone yard presented its own set of challenges. I can’t remember a time in any of the three administrations when Alan wasn’t under immense pressure either to maintain the cube rate or provide sufficient stone for the Tower construction season and later for the restoration projects undertaken during the Walsh and Teitelbaum administrations. He was also responsible for training apprentices, keeping the machine shop running at full capacity, organizing the completed stone stacks, estimating the blocks and slabs to determine which stones could be gleaned from them, filing the completed job tickets and being responsible for Quality Assurance and Control. Amazingly and much to his credit, almost all stones that were cut for the tower fit without complications and I don’t remember the Tower construction ever coming to a halt because a piece was not able to be set. In the later years he would also be the first to become involved with trouble shooting problems on outside projects such as the Jewish Museum and Cedar St., usually because installers weren’t up to speed with that type of work. 

“A further challenge especially early in the project was to accomplish all the above with a crew which consisted mainly of apprentices and rather basic machinery and plant. Most of the machinery and equipment at the stone yard was antiquated and had been either donated or acquired cheaply. These machines included three saws, a forklift, a mobile crane and a planing machine which had been found abandoned in a field in Indiana. As Alan was in charge, it fell to him to diagnose and arrange for the frequent repairs necessary to keep these machines running. He was a very practical person which I think can be put down to his rural upbringing and the necessity of having the ability to fix things oneself, and he took these emergencies in his stride and kept the place humming.

“An experienced and first-rate craftsman, Alan was generous with everyone in passing on his knowledge of the trade. He showed me some invaluable tricks of the trade including the method of setting up an XY axis to start off a full-size drawing. This is a variation on the perpendicular bisection of a straight line in elementary geometry but with a couple of extra steps and done with a beam compass and trammel points. 

“Alan had his own particular style and methods for working stone. He continued to use the same blue handled one inch wood working chisel that he had used for the soft stone at Wells on the Indiana limestone, to great effect. Alan was a good teacher and had some rules for apprentices including the use of the right tool for the job, “check outs” before chamfers, and to keep tolerances under 1/16”. Areas in which he excelled included a great ability at “twisting in” the centerlines on amorphous blocks, expertise at handling and splitting up the large blocks and slabs, and first-class banker work and an excellent understanding of the moulds and templates and their application.

“Other things I remember Alan for are his extraordinary leadership qualities, a wicked sense of humor and his infectious enthusiasm for stonework. He was also a poet and an avid sports fan. I remember him having a small tattoo of a swallow on his forearm.

“I was greatly saddened when I heard of his passing. I know he was very proud of what was achieved at the Cathedral.”

– Stephen Boyle

Alan was interviewed at the Cathedral many times over the years. These  exchanges conveyed his passion for stone, his belief in quality workmanship, his pride in what he was doing and pride in the crew.

Alan had a competitive nature as well. Frequent chess matches would occur on breaks with Tim Smith; Jim Bambridge joined in a game or two. Dominoes also became a frequent pastime on work breaks and lunch periods in the cutters’ area. The cutters all tried to best Alan. The matches became a sort of team building and bonding opportunity. One winter Alan bulked up a bit and decided a diet was in order. He would weigh-in each morning in the stoneyard and posted his weight. The cutters would bet on a gain or a loss, another contest with Alan at the center of it.

Alan had a vast range of responsibilities that included receiving and storing the large stones from the quarry, and keeping track of the cut stones, numbered and destined for the southwest tower. he watched over the job tickets given to the sawyers and the cutters progress on the stones they were cutting to the provided templates, within an eighth of an inch tolerance. He taught the apprentice cutters how to work and assisted the journeymen in honing their skills. He was patient and generous with his knowledge.

In 1990 a Cathedral affiliate, Colonna & Co and David Teitelbaum created Cathedral Stoneworks. Alan became the Clerk of the Works for that entity. His son Jason, fourth generation stone mason, began his training at the cathedral at this time. A great deal of outside stonework was undertaken. The plan was to generate revenue to fund the continuing construction of the southwest tower.  Sadly, very little work took place on the cathedral and the entity went bankrupt after a few years.  This effectively ended the work of the stoneyard.

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• The Times of London, Englishmen in New York are Keeping the ancient craft of stonemasonry alive, February 3 1987, Paul Vallely
• Wall Street Journal, Ancient Craft Gets New Lease on Life At Harlem Cathedral, September 15, 1986, Robert Guenther
• NY Press, February 22-26, 1991, The Local News, Mark Rose
• Cathedral Stoneworks profiles
• Special thanks to the colleagues and co-workers of Alan Bird for their contributions to this piece — Stephen Boyle, Tim Smith, Joseph Kincannon, Robert F. Rodriguez, and Treese Robb.