Dry stone walling and stone carving workshops for women and girls to take place at Shibden Hall

The project by the Women’s International Stone Alliance (WISA), an international network of women keen to work with and support other women involved or interested in traditional stone trades, is being led by Anglo-Australian Emma Knowles, who is originally from Beverley, East Yorkshire.

In 2017, Emma established her own company, Stone of Arc, which undertakes heritage restorations, public space constructions, and diverse commissions in both Australia and the UK. She continues to be an instructor and has established the only professionally recognised training facility in the southern hemisphere to incorporate all the elements required to teach the traditional dry stone craft from beginner to expert.

All members of the team of wallers, masons and carvers work in a heavily male-dominated sector which they are aiming to change by encouraging more girls and women to get involved in the traditional trades.

As part of this, the team are holding a series of practical workshops to give women the opportunity to try their hand at carving and build a dry stone wall on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 August.

Half day stone carving workshops will be led by acclaimed Italian carver Antonello Tiozzo, who will introduce beginners to the use of basic tools. Anyone already familiar with stone sculpting will also have the opportunity to further develop their skills and techniques. A professional panel will then select one or more of the workshop carvings to be included in the Anne Lister monument, offering a unique opportunity for women to have their creation included in the monument permanently.

For girls and women who have always wanted to learn how to dry stone wall, advanced waller and instructor Emma and professional Italian waller and instructor, Serena Cattaneo, will run two one-day workshops. These will provide participants with enough knowledge to be able to accurately identify traditional walling methods, understand the fundamental principles and learn techniques by completing a small section of wall.

The WISA team will complete the monument and wall construction in the period towards the end of August and first week of September, with an official unveiling set to take place around September 10.

The all-female team will create the monument using ten tonnes of building stone for the dry stone walls donated by Simon Lumb, plus ten tonnes of stone for the three monoliths, coping stones and carving stone donated by Wakefield-based natural stone supplier Traditional Stone. Calderdale Council is also supporting the project by transporting the stone to Shibden Hall and preparing the site, so it is ready for the work.

Anyone interested in taking part in the workshops should contact WISA by emailing [email protected]. To take part in a stone carving workshop will cost £35 and for the full day stone walling workshop the cost is £70.