[MassHistPres] seam faced granite

[Jeffrey Gonyeau]

Hi Dennis.

Below is some info from the 2021 HSR for All Saints, Ashmont (prepared by
John G. Waite Associates) that discusses the choice of stone for the church
which, according to Cram writing in *The Churchman* in 1899 (a bit after
the construction of the church and tower was completed), was a result of
aesthetic, economic, and practical concerns:

"In the prospectus for the proposed church that was published in 1892, the
architects had identified the type of stone and wood to be used:

*The church will be built of a seam-faced granite, and inside, the piers
and arches will be of a warm colored sandstone, the walls being treated in
rough plaster. The roof trusses and ceiling will be of chestnut; the
chancel furniture and pews of oak, stained a deep brown, like old oak.*

Cram later explained his rationale [in 1899 in *The Churchman*] for using
seam-faced granite and oak or Canadian elm:

*Brick, although susceptible of intelligent and effective use, as has been
proved of late in England, has in modern times been used so hideously in
America that it stood no chance of even momentary consideration.
Smoothly-dressed sandstone or limestone is the historic material, and
beyond question the most beautiful, but its cost is very great, and its
refinement demands a richness of detail that almost doubles the expense.
Rough or "quarry-faced" stone, once so universally popular, is about the
ugliest material in the market. At first it seemed that nothing remained
but ledge stone, with its brutal surface and its harsh, new color, but
finally a stone was discovered that certainly, so far as the East is
concerned, is the most perfect building material at a reasonable price that
can be used for church work. This is the so-called "seam-face" granite,
that may be obtained in blocks of any size with a particularly smooth
surface and with a wealth of tone and color that is matchless. By its use
one is able to obtain in a year the effect of a century's age, with all the
means of dignity and solemnity of effect. For the cut-stone gray Nova
Scotia sandstone was used on the exterior, and inside, red stone from the
quarries on Lake Superior. ...*"


Obviously, Cram had strong opinions about A LOT of things...

Hope this is useful.

Jeff

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Jeffrey Gonyeau Preservation Services
86 Ocean Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
jeffrey.gonyeau at gmail.com <jgonyeau at hotmail.com>
Mobile 617-512-0851

[image: image.png]
All Saints, Ashmont, from the southwest.


On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 9:11 AM Dennis De Witt via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

> All
>
> I have been digging a little into the use of seam faced granite — example
> below.
>
> I wonder if Cram may have first popularized it as a contrasty somewhat
> rustic material, beginning with All Sts Ashmont in 1891 — altho do I find
> Henry Vaughan using it at St. Mary’s Upham’s Corner in ’88 but with
> non-contrasting brownstone trim.
>
> Am I missing earlier examples?
>
> It seems to have been a specifically Boston area quarried material and it
> strikes me as a Boston Arts & Crafts-ish example of using “reject”
> material, somewhat like the adoption of over-fired klinker a.k.a “bench”
> brick, but a tad earlier.
>
> Dennis De Witt
> Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
>
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