Two of the three people to gain William Morris Craft Fellowships this year from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) were stonemasons.

They received their certificates and books from Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, at Waterman\'s Hall in the City of London earlier this month (July).

SPAB started the Fellowship in 1987 to preserve ancient and traditional skills in the building trades. Up to four young craftspeople a year are sent out on a six month tour to learn new and new specific skills from the country\'s top practitioners.

There are just 52 Fellows in total. The two new stonemasonry names on the list are Matthias Garn and Ben Newman.

Garn originally came from a Dresden family of stone carvers and now works for sculptor Dick Reid in York. Newman has a background as a banker mason, although he has now set up his own business called Traditional Stone in Rudgewick, Sussex, with two colleagues and hopes to concentrate on more ornamental carving and lettercutting.