Carving in slate

A lovely photo of my carving in slate of a Robin.

Photo by Kenton Brock

Naval badge in Portland stone

Shown here is a detail of the Royal Naval badge I carved in Portland stone as part of the Boy Sailors memorial destined for Portsmouth cathedral (see earlier post). I really enjoyed carving this, though the detailing on the crown was a challenge, especially as the stone will be laid in the floor, so although I've tried to include as much fiddly detail as possible I've had to bear in mind this will also be walked on so mustn't be fragile.

Robyn's robin...a carving in slate

Roman Headstone

The carving of a Roman style memorial from Portland stone.

Skulls

I've always had a particular fondness for memorials with depictions of skulls!

Here are a few choice 17th & 18th century examples from various locations across the south of England.

St Mary the Virgin, Bramshott, Hampshire

Detail from a box tomb, St Margaret of Antioch, Chilmark, Wiltshire.

St Mary's, Westerham, Kent.

St Mary's, Westerham, Kent.

Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire.

Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire.

Portsmouth Cathedral, Hampshire

Portsmouth Cathedral

Portsmouth Cathedral



St Margaret of Antioch, Chilmark, Wiltshire

I've been asked to add an additional inscription to a memorial I carved at least 10 years ago at Chilmark church. The stones have certainly been subject to vigorous lichen growth, but should clean up nicely. It's been a real pleasure to see these again as I'd had forgotten quite how the triptych looked; plus I was pleasantly impressed with the quality of work done by my younger self!

Sadly, these three stones stand as the memorial to three young sisters all killed in a house-fire. The main central stone bears their names and the two smaller stones each carry a quote;

"The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose" & "The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew tree are of equal duration."

Despite the weathering the carving is still nice and crisp.

St Margaret of Antioch

A view of the church in the November afternoon sunlight. The interior of the building was heavily Victorianised ('over' restored in the 19th century) but the churchyard is a real treasure trove of delights. Here are a few highlights...

A fabulous little painted cast iron memorial still with plenty of paintwork. Quite a rarity.

One of a pair of delightful 17th century box tombs. Judging by the style and execution of the profusion of skulls these were perhaps both made by the same hands...or carved in the same workshop?

I do have a particular fondness for memorials with carvings of skulls. Our ancestors seemed to have had a much healthier attitude towards their mortality than perhaps we enjoy today.

A perfect example of an early 19th century stone, beautifully lit by the afternoon sun. 

              A row of Victorian stones stand as sentinels to the passage of time in the north west corner of the churchyard.            

Boy Sailors Memorial Stone

I've been given the honour of designing and carving the memorial stone to boy sailors killed in World War 2 which is destined for the west end floor of Portsmouth cathedral

My original scale sketch produced after the initial meeting with the client at Portsmouth cathedral. Each commission starts with a hand drawn design for approval. I work as closely as possible to the final version

The Naval Crest set out in pencil onto the stone prior to carving

Working from the scale sketch the inscription is laid out directly onto the stone. All this is done freehand & by eye. A lot of drawing and re-drawing at this stage is necessary to ensure a well balanced and evenly spaced layout. The human eye is the only reliable guide! This stage of the process took about two days.

When I am happy with the final layout, carving can begin. I work from the bottom up, left to right. This photo shows the tip of the tungsten carbide chisel in my left hand.

And here I am with the zinc alloy dummy slowly and carefully carving each letter. Note how my index finger and thumb rest on the head of the dummy for better control with fine carving.

Carving continues, carefully and slowly with Radio 3 for company!

Carving progresses on the badge.

The inscription is painted with enamel paint to aid legibility as the plaque will be laid in the floor of Portsmouth cathedral. I've chosen a battleship grey colour.

For more details about the project see the BBC news link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15399284

Historic Baptismal Fonts

Here are three baptismal fonts, just as an illustration of the history all around us. When visiting any church the very fist thing I go to take a look at inside is the font. They are nearly always the oldest part of the church, often pre-dating the rest of the entire building. It is not un-common to find Saxon and early Normal fonts which were re-used when the old church was demolished and a newer replacement constructed later in the middle ages.

The heavy tooling and crude shape and moulding give a clue to the age of these three, as being Norman/Early Medieval.

This one is to be found in St Peter's North Wootton, Somerset, a glorious little church hidden away at the foot of the Mendip Hills a few miles East of Wells.

The detailing in the carving, the chevron shapes in particular clearly define this as a Norman font

This next treasure is a little later and to be found in St. John the Baptist, Pilton, Somerset. This time on the heights of the Mendips in an exposed location with the most stunning views across the Somerset levels to been seen nearby. Legend has it that the boy Jesus came here to buy lead with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea. 'And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England's mountains green?'

Anyway, the heavy bowl with a simple round moulding underneath and a simple column typify this font as 12th century.

Finally a couple of photo's of a lovely font of about the same period in St Michael's, Teffont, Wiltshire

The late summer sunlight really shows up the simple heavy tooling on this one, most of these marks have been left by a

 claw chisel, that is a chisel cut along its edge to leave a set of teeth arranged in a row.