Tools and Techniques of the Roman Stonemason in Britain

Abstract

The material upon which this study is based is the ornamented architectural stonework of Roman Britain. The decoration of architecture was an accepted feature of the way in which the Romans built, and is one which appears in Britain at all levels of achievement—in the comparative grandeur of the Corinthian capitals of the basilica at Silchester, in the neatly-turned columns which adorned such a villa as Great Witcombe (PL. XIX, A), and in the humble column-bases of the auxiliary fort at Housesteads.