A Workman’s Brew: Covent Garden and the Inigo Jones Standard

The Workman’s Brew: Covent Garden and the Inigo Jones Standard.

The Formative Years Before my work became international, and before I reached the level of Master, I was cutting my teeth on the historic streets of London. The early 80s were my classroom, and the Grade I listed landmarks of the city were my teachers.

There is a specific weight to working on St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. When you touch 17th-century stone, you are in a dialogue with Inigo Jones himself. It requires a level of focus that doesn’t just shape the stone—it shapes the man.

The Level Table It wasn’t all quiet contemplation. I remember Roger Moore walking past the site one afternoon. He was at the height of his “Bond” fame, but when one of the lads shouted, “Do you want a cup of tea, Roger?” he didn’t hesitate.

He sat in our workman’s hut, held a proper brew, and shared a bench with the blokes on the tools.

That was the London that forged me—where the world’s icons and the craftsmen shared a table without ceremony. It taught me that whether I am addressing a global council or a student in the workshop, the Sovereign Standard remains the same.

From the Scaffold to the World The studio steps and the church masonry of Covent Garden were the foundation. They provided the “Demonstrated Competence” that allowed me to eventually take the craft across borders.

I didn’t just learn how to carve; I learned how to stand my ground in the presence of history—and fame.

In September 2018, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Sam Fogg for their landmark ‘Stone Heads’ exhibition.

The Master’s Lineage: A Journey Through Stone, Wood, and Time

The Grit Behind the Lineage: Lessons from Syria

The Legacy of the Master Builder: From Knightsbridge to the Côte d’Azur

The Permanent Record: One Patron, Seven Hundred Miles of Stone

Structural Legacy: From the British Museum Great Court to the 1080 Protocol

The Gold Thread: A Discovery in a Drawer

The Itinerant Path: From Picardy’s Spires to the Soul of Stone

A Year in the Shadow of Greatness: My Tenure at Woburn Abbey

The Alchemical Stone: Lessons from a Practitioner of the Renaissance

The Start of My Philosophical JourneyThe Music of the Spheres: A Journey Through London’s Stone