Stonemasons’ boost for LEGO Cathedral

Exeter Cathedral’s Big LEGO® Build has got off to a fantastic start, thanks to a donation from the Worshipful Company of Masons.

Cathedral stonemasons (and “Yeoman Masons” of the Worshipful Company) Anna Steinmetzer, Matthew Hoskins and Owen Whitfield have each placed 100 LEGO bricks to begin building the Chapel of St Edmund on the scale model. Their work on the real-life chapel earned them commendations from the Duke of Gloucester’s Awards (administered by the Worshipful Company of Masons) at the end of last year.

Chris Sampson, Exeter Cathedral’s Clerk of the Works and Master Mason, has led the development and expansion of the stonemason team in recent years. He said:

“The support of the Worshipful Company of Masons is hugely important to the craft of stonemasonry, particularly through the training and education of the next generation of craftsmen and women. Following on from our team’s success in the Duke of Gloucester’s Awards we are thrilled to continue to develop our links with the Company”

Once completed, the final model will be made up of 300,000 LEGO bricks, and be an impressive 3.6m long, 2m wide and over 1m high.

Paul Courtney, the Cathedral’s Development Director said: “We are hugely grateful to the Worshipful Company for extending their brilliant support of our stonemasonry team to the LEGO project – they have helped to give us a real boost right at the very start.”

Exeter is one of just three Cathedrals in the country to have its own LEGO model and everyone is invited to get involved in the build; for every £1 donated people can add a brick to the model.