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The material
The majority of historic buildings lived in and used by the general population were built of locally available materials and did not necessarily require the material to be shaped or finished, particularly because internal and external walls were usually rendered with a lime plaster. Natural stone occurs across most of the UK, except East Anglia and it was the Craft Mason who used this natural stone to construct walls. They also had the skills to plaster, use bricks to form quoins and repair slate roofs. Today Craft Masons also work with concrete blockwork. Up until recently, the term ‘Cornish Mason’ was used to describe this craft, but this diverse crafts person is needed across the UK so the Construction Industry agreed to change the name to Craft Mason.
The skill
A Craft Mason carries out similar work to a bricklayer but uses natural stone to build and restore walls. You should not confuse a Craft Mason with a Stone Mason. A Craft Mason builds walls using natural stones, which can be of random size and shape, or roughly squared stones laid to courses. In addition, a Craft Mason carries out roof repairs to slates and some plastering work. Whereas a Stone Mason works with fine square blocks and has the skill to shape or fix the stone into place.
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