THE D-I-Y GUIDE TO NATURAL STONEWORK,rock walls,MASONRY

This is a practical, home handyman's guide to working with stone in the house and garden. From advising on the basic choice and care of tools and discussing the types of stone and their uses, it progresses to a detailed account of walling and paving principles, and shows how these basic principles may be applied to the building of more complex structures. The text is amply illustrated with explanatory diagrams and photographs of actual constructions.

The approach is practical and down-to-earth, rather than technical, and culled from the author's own first-hand experience.

The book should not only encourage the would-be stoneworker to have a go but make him more aware of the many advantages of natural random stone - its strength, durability and beauty. It aims to teach him not only how to use stone but where and when to use it - and where to find it. Indeed, if the book merely helps someone locate a cheap source of stone or saves him buying one unnecessary tool, it will have paid for itself - quite apart from the practical good-building-sense it contains.

THE AUTHOR
Dr J.A.C. Harrison was brought up on the Isle of Wight, won a scholarship to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1961, graduated in botany in 1964 and went on to obtain a PhD in plant pathology at the University College of Swan sea in South Wales in 1968. Since then he has combined his continuing interest in plant research with carrying on the family tradition of landscaping and stoneworking by running his own landscape-garden firm in South Wales for ten years. He is now Head Gardener at the Newby Hall Estate near Ripon in North Yorkshire and is married with one child.

Introduction:
It is a sad fact that the traditional craftsman builder is almost a character of the past. The completion of Liverpool Cathedral appears to have been the work of a last generation of stonemasons. To those who may be left I apologise for the oversimplifications in this book. If it appears that I have given scant treatment to their craft, they, more than anyone, must realise that it is not a craft easily learnt from the printed word, and I hope they will find some small consolation in my attempts to revive interest in, and give a basic understanding of, what is involved in working with stone.

I have used the term 'stonework' throughout the book to mean naturally occurring stone that has been altered only by cutting, polishing, or shaping. I have excluded all reference to work with artificial stone, whatever the claims of the manufacturers for the different varieties.

The other term used throughout the book is 'random' stone, that is, stone shaped in much the same way as nature produced it and therefore occurring in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. With this type of stone the stoneworker's skill is primarily involved in the interlocking of such irregular shapes while observing sound building principles.

By narrowing the book's terms of reference to random-natural stonework, it should be possible to bring to many people an understanding of, and a guide for working with, stone in the form in which it is most readily available.

......

Contents:

Introduction

I - Basic Concepts

1. Tools and Equipment

2. Materials

3. Walling

4. Paving and Cladding

5. Working Stone

II - Special Features

Introduction

6. Ends and Openings

7. Circles and Curves

8. Steps and Arches

9. Complex Constructions

10. Demolition and Renovation

Conclusion

Appendix

(Introduction continued)
Although stone is one of the commonest - and most useful-materials on our earth, it has unfortunately become one of the most neglected. Our resources of stone would more than meet all our present building needs, whereas today we rely almost entirely on artificial and inferior substitutes. Not only are most of these less strong and less attractive but, in terms of the limited resources of the earth, they are more costly to produce.

The limestones, sandstones, granites, slates, and others that can be used as building material are immensely strong - their load-bearing properties far exceed those of any artificial material, however reinforced. They are incredibly durable, too. If it were not so, the science of archaeology might never have been born. One somehow doubts that the scientists of the future will learn much from the remains of our modern housing estates! Yet the modern and the traditional can come together and work well. A combination of external stonework and internal blockwork provides the advantages of cavity construction, ease of interior decoration, and speed of erection, together with all the natural advantages of stone.

However, as aspiring Do-It-Yourself stoneworkers you are unlikely to contemplate anything as complicated or as large as an actual dwelling in stone, but I hope to help you to add some interesting and attractive features to your home and garden - stonework, if you like, to live with, rather than live in!

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NOTE ABOUT DESCRIPTIONS
Every effort is made to give a full and accurate picture of the condition of each book. There is an overall assessment of condition ("Like New", "Very Good", "Good+", "Good"", etc.), followed by a description of the dust jacket, where one is present, then all blemishes are recorded. The grade of condition accorded to any book is, of course, a matter of the appraiser's opinion, but "Like New", for instance, can be taken to mean that the book looks virtually as it did when first published. "Very Good" is a notch down from "Like New" and usually denotes that the book has been read by one careful owner over the age of fifty-five. "Good+" denotes that the book has been read by several careful persons of similar maturity. "Good" means what it says, volume is evenly worn and in tact. "FAIR" means not very good, "Poor" means that, except for antiquity and/or subject matter, the volume is suitable for a fireplace.

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