In Stone Ties Simeon’s quest for the identity of the Northern Master exposes him to the mystery of masons’ marks. To this day their purpose continues to intrigue us. In common use amongst the banker masons (i.e. those that shaped the stones on their bench; the word banker being derived from the French banc, meaning a bench) the earliest examples can be dated to around the twelfth century. In the Middle Ages few craftsmen were literate, and the general use of surnames was not yet common, and so they left their unique mark upon the stone rather than their initials. It is believed the marks served two purposes, firstly to associate a stone with the mason who worked it, and secondly to evidence his output for payment reasons. Masons often developed their own marks by slightly altering those used by their father and grandfather. There are, sadly, very few examples in the records where a name and a mark have been linked. A number of marks can still be seen on the nave pillars within St. Edmund’s church in Southwold, Suffolk. Similar examples can be found in many other cathedrals and churches throughout Britain, but Wells Cathedral in Somerset has an especially fine collection.