Samuel Lee has been working with stone for 15 years, carving new sculptures, restoring old ones and working to preserve the ancient craft. At London Stone Carving, working cooperatively with three other masons, he oversees the whole process, from quarrying the stone to installing the finished piece. 

Elle Hunt: What led you to stonemasonry?

Samuel Lee: It started with a fascination with stone itself. I grew up in Wiltshire, where there is really hard stone, called sarsen stone. One of my earliest memories is hitting it with one of my dad’s chisels and getting a spark. I thought, “How do you do anything with this material?” I later learned that my grandmother’s family had been stonemasons for 125 years, building churches.

EH: What’s the modern-day pathway for the job?