Dressed, moulded and carved stonework

On 10 May 2023 the CRAFTVALUE team invited master stonemason Gunther Wolters and geologists, Professor Patrick Wyse Jackson and Dr Louise Caulfield, to Castletown House to discuss what is perhaps the finest work in Irish limestone of the early eighteenth-century. To start, we hear of the training involved prior to undertaking work of this quality and the special relationship between apprentice and master.

In the next video, there is analysis of the tools used to achieve the droved finish of Castletown’s ashlar facing and the techniques employed to carve the architraves and consoles that define the window openings. We also hear about the probable source of the pale grey oolitic limestone chosen by the builders and the particular lithic properties that make it so suited to high grade building projects. For further analysis of stone use during this period, see Patrick N. Wyse Jackson and Louise M. Caulfield, ‘The rough and the smooth: stone use in Dublin 1720–60’. In Enriching Architecture: Craft and its conservation in Anglo-Irish building production, 1660–1760, edited by Christine Casey and Melanie Hayes, 234–261. UCL Press, 2023

Columns

The construction of classical columns was a particular challenge for quarrymen, stonecutters and carvers. Gunther Wolters explains the various parts of the task in the following clip.

Another building that was constructed with a similar fine oolitic limestone (likely also from Edenderry) was the great Palladian house at Summerhill, Co. Meath. Burnt by paramilitaries in 1921, the ruin was demolished 1958-62, leaving nothing but fragments. Several of the finer examples of decorative stonework were saved by conservationists David Griffin, John O’Connell and Roger Hill, who have kindly provided access to CRAFTVALUE for digitisation purposes.

A model of a surviving Ionic capital can be seen from various angles in the 3D viewer below. Originally located on the upper floor of the rear elevation, the quality of the stone carving was very high and comparable with that found on contemporary buildings associated with Richard Castle. Most notable is the degree of attention given to the egg-and-dart and bead-and-reel mouldings behind the volutes, seen here from below. The carvers knew that these details would be visible due to the high location of the capitals, despite their distance from the eye. The three-quarter capital extends from a rough block that sat into the masonry.

Above is a baluster from the north front of the house showing the rough stonework on the back and sides reflecting its place at a junction with one of the pedestals on the front steps. In contrast, the front of the baluster is finely droved giving a subtle texture to its curved surface.

Above is one of the surviving consoles that originally supported the window cornices at Summerhill. The finely detailed carving emerges from a rough stone block that plugged the console securely into the masonry. It is the only one of twenty such carvings formerly on the north front known to survive. To look at the console interactively, click on the player below. Please wait a few moments for the model to load.

Perhaps the most important fragments of stonework to survive from Summerhill are the three carved festoons that formerly ornamented the space between the Corinthian capitals on the north front. Although the latter have not been traced, it has been possible to digitally capture the festoons which survive in two separate private collections. These are comparable to those at Russborough, Co. Wicklow (see banner video at the top of this page) and are possibly the work of one of the well-known carvers active in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, such as John Kelly or John Houghton. While the Russborough festoons are carved from Portland stone (see animation on the stonework homepage), the Summerhill examples are of the same Irish oolitic limestone as the ashlar used elsewhere on the façade. Below is the first of three festoons from the north front of Summerhill, Co. Meath. Digitally captured using photogrammetry by CRAFTVALUE. With thanks to John O’Connell.

View the festoon in 3D below with its original texture.

The stonework in the section of the facade shown above is based on the evidence of photographs. Note the separate treatment of the architrave, frieze and cornice in the entablature, which is similar to the technique employed in other buildings by Richard Castle. The cutting of the stone in the window architraves, where by the lintel ‘hangs’ between the jambs, is also typical and not very satisfactory visually.

Portland stone

Easier to work than Irish limestone was the Portland imported from the Isle of Portland off the south coast of England. It is the perfect ‘free stone’ meaning it can be carved in all directions without due regard to the bedding. One of the earliest Portland stone facades in Ireland can be found at Drumcondra House. The undocumented temple in the grounds also has dressings in Portland stone, though much weathered. It has some beautifully carved detailing and shows well the potential of this soft English free stone.

At the same time that Richard Castle was overseeing the construction of Summerhill, Co. Meath, he was also sending directions to his workmen at Trinity College Dublin, where the new Printing House was under construction, the facade of which was also executed in Portland stone. The rougher side elevations were executed in rubble of Dublin calp.

The Printing House in Trinity College Dublin is celebrated as one of the earliest and most sophisticated examples of the use of Portland stone in Ireland.

As can be seen in the model above, the method for constructing the entablature and pediment does not align with the classical detailing. The stone cutting often divides up guttae and modillions, suggesting they staggered their cuts across different features for structural reasons. It also allowed them to make best use of the stone that was available to them, as it did not have to conform to a predetermined size. It will be seen that parts of the architrave ‘hang’ unsupported between columns, which could only be achieved by the use of hidden iron cramps within the stonework.

Capitals

The work reserved from the most skilled of stoneworkers was the carving of capitals. Of these the Corinthian and Composite orders represented the most challenging.

The Composite capitals in the entrance hall at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (designed by John Vanbrugh), were the work of carver Samuel Carpenter, who in 1705 charged £3 5s for each ‘whole face’, of which there were 26, coming to a total of £84 10s.

The Corinthian capitals on the chapel at Trinity College Dublin (below) are Corinthian, carved in several pieces – the full capitals in two, the pilaster capitals in three parts. These are slightly different to the Corinthian capitals on the matching Exam Hall opposite. A design was supplied by William Chambers but built under the supervision of Christopher and Graham Myers. The exact date of these works is not clear from the sources but was done c. 1787-1798, with payments for stonework to George Darley, a well known Dublin builder and stonecutter. ¹

1. See Christine Casey, Dublin, 397; https://dia.ie/works/view/34183/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+COLLEGE+GREEN%2C+TRINITY+COLLEGE%2C+CHAPEL+%281787%29 ↩︎