This museum is another site managed by the Bath Museum Trust. Its used often by the community as well as tourists. For our workshop today we created programming drafts for certain audiences: school groups of different ages, drop-in families, and adult learning. Our group created a program about pretending to be a Georgian architect and using the exhibits as inspiration. We figured kids would like to make fantastical designs and parents could put together their Pinterest dreams.
Working with this group was my favorite part of the day. They set up their work tables and sample stone slabs for us to work on. The master of the guild, Stephen, has worked all over Europe. He's done work in Venice and Windsor Castle for the Queen's Apartments! The stonemasons wear the light-weight hats as reminders to work with good posture, else the hats will fall off. The symbols on their hats are unique to each person and they use them to identify their own tools and work they've finished. Stephen said they try to make their own tools when they can.
Stephen said he can trace his masters back to 1080. Their culture is rich and deep. The guild is much like a community, sharing language, skills, stories, songs, and dances across all countries. They don't discriminate based on gender or race, but what skills you have. They work on a don system, much like martial arts.
Visit the guild's website here: https://www.guildsg.org/
The piece in the cover photo of this post was made by a first year apprentice.
Museum Professional. Traveler. Cat lover.
