Eleven of us had a fascinating few hours in Hereford, split between meeting a stonemason, looking at features of the cathedral and following a self-guiding leaflet to the building stones of the city produced by the Earth Heritage Trust.
We first spent a very informative hour with Simon Hudson, the Chief Stonemason at his yard outside Hereford Cathedral.
Standing within his indoor area he:
1.Described, and showed us examples of, different rocks they might use including various sandstones, slate, & limestones [even including
tufa].
2.Talked about the workload demands not just on the cathedral structure but elsewhere in the very extensive Diocese of Hereford [including
Little Dixton church here near Monmouth].
3.Went into details about tools and techniques used, including tungsten tipped chisels and a block lifting ‘grab’.
4.Conjectured how far modern technology had already taken over and what in future computer driven tools or AI might do.
The highlight was when, using a detailed architect’s drawing of the east end of the cathedral and images taken during the work, he told us about a 7 year project using up to 9 masons to replace much of the previous stonework including many decorative features. He then took us to stand under the finished east end pointing out many of the intricate carvings. Asked how long these should last he modestly replied 300 to 400 years. Quite a memorial to such exquisite work!
Apparently one important source of the red sandstone used is a small quarry hidden in woodland just off the Hereford Road in Buckholt, just to the north of Monmouth.
We moved on next to look at some of the other stone features of the cathedral. These included preserved older material on display in the so called Lapidarium, and the stunningly attractive monument to the SAS, who are of course based on the outskirts of Hereford.
Finally, we walked around the centre of the city with it wealth of different styles and materials to look at. These included the former police station and gaol, Shire hall, two churches, the Buttermarket, banks, and the Museum and Library building. We didn’t quite make it to the city wall but here is an image of it.