2.5.3 Masons’ marks

Interest in masons’ marks in Scotland lags behind elsewhere, with no academic overviews and masons’ marks just something that tends to be noted in passing, but interest is growing with projects set up that are involving members of the public in locating sites and capturing information. The Mason’s Mark project initiated by Aberdeenshire Council in 2006 and still run by Moira Greig but with an extended geographical remit, is building up an online database of where marks are to be found, but has yet to publish any academic articles. A complementary project has also been initiated by Iain Ross Wallace, a research student at the University of Glasgow, who is focussing on masons’ marks in buildings from 1100 to 1300, beginning with buildings in the west of Scotland. The challenge is to use this information to answer questions about the organisation of building and stone-supply industries, including the movement of masons around Europe (cf. Alexander 2007 on Romanesque buildings in England). Greig’s work has started to identify some known masons, as well as to challenge phasing of buildings (M Greig pers comm.)