Once the stone cutters numbers grew and the quantity of cut stones reached a certain point, it was time to add stone carvers to the mix. In keeping with the principle of the medieval stoneyard, certain stone cutters would be candidates for carving training. With the aid of an Endowment for the Arts grant the Cathedral finds a stone carver.
A Chance Meeting
One day when Jim Bambridge was back in Dorset working on drawings, he was driving in nearby Somerset. He saw a stone carving activity and pulled off the road to see what was taking place. There he met young Nick Fairplay. Nick was helping his friend, Master Carver Mel Morris Jones. Jones’ commission involved Dolphins for the Naval College in Greenwich. This chance meeting lead to the recruitment of Nick Fairplay to direct the carving at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the fall of 1984.
Fairplay’s Training
Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, UK, Fairplay left school at 16. He applied for a stone apprenticeship but the company already had their quota of two apprentices. He told them he would work for them for free, for 6 months. His goal for the period was to be better than at least one of the existing apprentices. At the end of the period, he was put on full time for the work on Chichester Cathedral. A similar work rule almost kept him from becoming a carver on this job, but his persistence overcame it.
He later became gargoyle carver on the restoration of the North Front and Henry 7th Chapel at Westminster Abbey. After receiving his degree from City and Guilds of London Art School in life drawing and clay modeling, he won the Beckwith Travel scholarship for Drawing and continued his studies of Renaissance, Baroque and Roman Architecture and sculpture in Rome.
“My training was in medieval and classical ornament on English Cathedrals and Parish churches. Working on Westminster Abbey with one hundred men gave me a wealth of experience. They had trained in shops with 400 men after World War II. I wasn’t just learning from the work I was carving, I also learned from the work the older men were carving.”
– Nicholas Fairplay
At The Cathedral
Nick arrived at the Cathedral to begin his job instructing design, drawing, modeling, carving, technical drawing and theory. The Cathedral finds a stone carver but there wasn’t much yet to work with. The carving shed had to be built, apprentices had to be chosen and the supervision of the cutters was temporarily vacant. He agreed to fill in with the cutters for a time. Both Jim Bambridge and Dean Morton gave him advice on selecting the carver trainees once he was ready. Each had their recommendations for the apprentices to move to carver training. Each recommendation involved different people. Fairplay designed a competition. Anyone interested could submit. They were asked to carve a crocket, based on one he carved and was the model for the competition.
The Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is a small, independent, sharply projecting medieval ornament, usually occurring in rows, and decorated with foliage. In the 12th century when it first appeared, the crocket had the form of a ball-like bud with a spiral outline. In the later Gothic period it took the form of open, fully developed leaves that by the 15th century had evolved onto richly involuted forms. Crockets are used especially on the inclined edges of spires, pinnacles, and gables. They can also be found on capitals and cornices.
The submitted crockets were numbered and the Dean and Master Builder were called in to evaluate them and vote on the best. They had to agree on which three were the best. Once they agreed, Fairplay turned the numbers over to reveal the winners names. They were Ruben Gibson, Jeep Kincannon and Angel Escobar. Angel made it known that he preferred to stay in the cutting shed for the time being. This elevated Joseph Kincannon’s entry into the finals. These three then began their training as stone carvers.
- Special thanks to Nick Fairplay and Joseph Kincannon for the information in this post.