New Introduction to the 2006 edition of

Modern Practical Masonry

Edmund George Warland

The 'modern' masonry to which E. G. Warland refers in his title was that practised by a thriving industry adapting rapidly to the widespread introduction of steel-framed construction. Today's stone and glass-clad structures bear small relation to buildings of the 1920s and thirties (the example which frequently furnishes plates for Modern Practical Masonry is that of Bush House in London). The decorative vocabulary was predominantly neo-Classical, creating demand for large quantities of classical moulding and other ornament. Indeed, the masonry 'cladding' was really only a pared-down version of load-bearing masonry. Nevertheless, the associated changes in masonry practice, including the use of automated cutting and finishing machinery, led Warland to set his volume in clear opposition to earlier works such as Practical Masonry by W. R. Purchase (Crosby Lockwood & Son, 1896).

Modern Practical Masonry was Warland's first major published work. It would appear to have been well received, and there followed The Fabric of Modern Building (Pitman, 1937) Constructional Masonry (Pitman, 1946), and The Technique of Building (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1949). All of these titles display a similar format and style, and all have a straightforward didactic purpose rather than anything approaching the discursive. During this period, Warland's published works included a number of syllabus-specific textbooks aimed at students studying for examinations with the City & Guilds Institute and the Institute of Builders. He also wrote in similar vein for younger students in technical schools. His publications form part of a drive to modernize and standardize building quality and training in construction. The foundation of the Building Research Station (now the Building Research Establishment) after the First World War and the publication of seminal works such as Schaffer's The Weathering of Natural Building Stones (HMSO, 1932, reprinted Donhead, 2004) can also be seen in this context.

Very little biographical material on Edmund George Warland is available in the public domain. He was, above all, a teacher, for many years Chief Lecturer on Masonry and Geometry for Masons at the London County Council School of Building in Brixton (founded in 1904 and now part of London South Bank University). A refreshing sense of that humility proper to his profession occasionally emerges in his writing, and may account to some degree for his relative obscurity today.

From 1928 onward, he was an active member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, particularly during the 1930s, and was for a time chair of the Institution's Lancashire and Cheshire Branch. Some impression of his character can be gained through transcripts of his commentary on the published work of others that appear in the journal The Structural Engineer, where he appears forthright, knowledgeable and above all sensible. He was resident in Liverpool when he died during the summer of 1964.

Modern Practical Masonry is an encyclopaedic guide to the subject, based heavily on meticulous and beautiful diagrams. At its heart is a treatise on geometry for setting-out, though it contains a number of other valuable chapters. The structure is logical and straightforward, and although the entries are never organized alphabetically, it remains an object lesson in clarity and simplicity. In three sections, the bulk of the material appears in those chapters detailing specific constructions; methods of working particular structural shapes; basic, and finally advanced geometry and setting out. The 1929 edition, which this volume reproduces, is beautifully finished with sharp drawings, a number of which are over a double page spread. The photographic plates are of good quality, well chosen and clearly reproduced. There is a reasonable glossary at the back, and suggestions for further reading appear at the end of pertinent chapters.

In the second edition (Pitman, 1953), some regrettable omissions were made. Gone are the useful, if somewhat quaint sections on mason's tools and masonry machinery. The third and final section, 'Costing and Estimating', was also omitted. This is a pity, because its forms and tables constitute a very carefully thought out and exhaustive set of templates to aid in estimating work, that are as relevant today as they were in the 1920s (with very little adaptation they would furnish an excellent estimation spreadsheet for a computer). The table of contents was condensed and the photographic plates were collated in series. Both changes detract from the clarity and logic of the layout. The size of the illustrations and their quality, as well as that of the photographic plates was somewhat reduced. This is a shame because they are the crowning glory of the book. The frontispiece of Bush House was substituted with one showing the construction of Rylands Building in Manchester (1931). The addition of a list of plates and a quotation from Longfellow's 'The Builders' is but poor mitigation.

In their book, Practical Stone Masonry (Donhead, 1995) Peter Hill and John David present a well-reasoned update to Modern Practical Masonry. Their excellent work is nevertheless explicitly defined in relation to Warland's book, speaking eloquently of the relevance of the older book to today's practitioners. Nonetheless, any handbook in current use will be showing signs of age in its eighth decade, and Practical Modern Masonry is no exception. Some sections, particularly 'Description of Machines in Use', are no longer of direct practical utility. Readers will note dated terminology ('alabaster' for 'onyx', etc.) and factual content such as listings for quarries now closed or worked out. They might shudder at the wooden scaffolds and health and safety regime apparent in the photographs taken on site. The brief sections on stone decay and restorative treatments betray their times, as do descriptions of the use of iron and steel fixings and ordinary Portland cement. The attentive reader will view such matters in context and cross reference with more modern sources.

Apart from students of masonry and carving, teachers, architects, surveyors and conservation officers, this is a book for anyone with an interest in historic buildings, be it technical or aesthetic. It is, too, pleasurable simply to browse the book for the beauty of the geometrical diagrams and the rich vocabulary evocative of working mens' lives past.

E. G. Warland retired from the profession in 1956, at a time when computer programmes were beginning to be employed in structural engineering, and some of the techniques he made a special study of had largely been superseded. Today, the industry to which he dedicated his professional energies has transformed beyond recognition, and stone working of the kind that concerned him is now the province of restoration. Warland was clearly a practical man with an obvious regard for craft. He was at pains to stress his view that the use of automated machinery would never obviate the involvement of true craftsmen. It is to be hoped the validity of this view will be underscored by the re-edition of Warland's work at a time when the advance of slick automation in the stone industry is so overwhelming. 

Christopher Weeks 

Christopher Weeks has practised as a conservator in France, Italy, Eire and the UK, largely on architectural sculpture.  His particular interest is the conservation of painted stone, and he now runs an independent conservation practice in Hertfordshire.