Liverpool Cathedral appointed Thomas Gerald Murphy chief carver in 1935. In 1904, the year Tom Murphy was born, King Edward VII laid the Foundation Stone for the Liverpool Cathedral. At the official completion in 1978, he had spent 44 years working on the Cathedral. He continued carving for several years as there was always one more detail. Tom Murphy, Master Stone Carver received the honor of Member of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth on June 26, 1979.
Murphy apprenticed to the firm of Earp, Hobbs & Miller, a highly successful firm of architectural sculptors and stone carvers, from 1919 to 1927, and qualified at Manchester School of Art in 1927. He began work with the firm of H.H. Martyn and worked on the Palace of Westminster between 1928 and 1930. Murphy later assisted with the carving of the Queensway Tunnel Entrance in Liverpool and the Gladstone Dock Development before coming to the Liverpool Cathedral.
The Master Builder Calls For a Carver
Murphy and St. John’s master builder Jim Bambridge spoke often on the phone and corresponded. Bambridge persuaded Tom to come to the Cathedral for two weeks in 1983. He made models and sketches for future carvers. At the time, 3,300 blocks of limestone were cut and finished in 4 years of work. However, there were no carvers. A Gothic cathedral needs carvers. At 79 years old, Murphy had one last carving to finish on the west front in Liverpool, but Jim Bambridge was an old friend and he had some curiosity about St. John’s.
Usually, Tom Murphy, Master Stone Carver worked from a drawing that he or someone else has made. He marked the stone with a compass or pencil to outline proportions. The markings were not intricate, there must be room for inspiration.
There’s a lot more to carving than just cutting stone. If you can’t see it in the block, you might as well go home.
– Tom Murphy
As he did his carvings, he also assessed the work of an apprentice. This apprentice will probably be sent to England to study stone-carving. “It is time,” Bambridge said “to get the new generation started.”
An Apprentice’s Memory
Joseph Kincannon remembers Tom’s brief stay after almost 40 years. “He was the sweetest guy ever. A real craftsman. Typical of carvers, he only used hammers. I remember this seeming strange, as we mostly used mallets which is more of a banker mason’s tool. His accuracy throwing that hammer was noticed, and admired by all. He knocked out a couple crocketts. He worked stone effortlessly, always by hand.”
■
- Time Magazine, November 13, 1978
- New York Times, May 14, 1983
- Queens Birthday Honors, 1979
- Biographical information – Sean B. Murphy