SV | UK

David Waite has been an active stonemason for more than 30 years. He first started work as a building engineer but decided to become a stonemason at the age of 30. The decision was generated partly because of disappointing encounters with modern building techniques but also his good fortune to grow up in the historic city of Winchester. The influence of such surroundings was profound.

He went to what is now the Weymouth College. He learnt craft techniques from teachers who had worked on nearby Portland and who passed on traditions which went back to Roman times. His enthusiasm was evident in the good marks he received upon leaving.

He returned to Winchester to work on the Cathedral and stayed there for six years. It was a lively workshop which for most of the time was occupied by three very disparate individuals. Despite their differences the work produced was generally regarded to be of a very high standard. Most conservation techniques were dismissed in favour of wholehearted restoration. (The senior mason had worked there long enough to see a lot of post-war pioneering techniques prove to be ineffective). Shortly after his arrival the team embarked upon the total replacement of the rose-window in the north transept. Normally such a project would be regarded as the culmination of a stonemason´s career but in this instance it occurred at the inception of his. Involvement in several more interesting projects was to follow in a workshop which was active the year round.

By stages the authorities handed him more responsibility and eventually he was to become Clerk of Works. The post demanded total commitment and his ties to the workshop became tenuous. After meeting the national authorities on a visit to Stockholm he was encouraged to move to Sweden which he did in 1987 with his young daughter and Swedish wife.

Initially, he worked at the Royal Palace with regular incursions into the Old Town and beyond, notably the restoration of Katarina church following the calamitous fire there.

In 1992 he moved to his present address in the southern province of Skania. Shortly after his arrival he started working for himself. As well as pure stonemasonry he found himself being required to carry out complementary conservation work. Largely self-taught, he added to his knowledge thanks to the scholarship he won enabling him to travel to Venice. Here he took part in a conservation course at the Craft Centre on the island of San Servolo.

As well as working locally he has travelled considerable distances to be involved with work at the Royal Palace once again, plus the Foreign Office and the Rosenbad government buildings in Stockholm. As well as these major buildings he has carried out work on smaller buildings in the Old Town. More recently, he has completed work on the Holy Trinity church as well as the City Hall in the naval town of Karlskrona. On a previous visit there he worked on the Frederik church. (Both are part of the Unesco world heritage site centred on the old dockyards).

In Skania he has worked on the restoration of the Central Post Office in Malmö. Other major works include projects at the country houses at Skarhult and Övedskloster, and All Saints church in Lund. A smaller job which required a high level of competence due to both the technical requirements and the dramatic early onset of winter was the Belvedere in the King´s park in Malmö.

Principally involved in the restoration and conservation of culturally important buildings, David Waite has also held short courses in stonemasonry appreciation for architectural students. He has also taken part in local art festivals and carried out modest lettercutting commissions. Indeed, he is of the opinion that lettercutting by hand is generally a sadly overlooked skill and hopes to spend more time exploring and demonstrating its potential in the future.