The stonemason's handiwork

I was back at Lincoln Cathedral this morning for the 8.30am eucharist: just five of us, including the priest and verger. Really, the priest could have been a bit more friendly - no welcome, no page numbers, no guidance about whether we should sit or stand or come up for communion. But the verger made up for it afterwards by being very chatty and pleasant.

If you're ever in Lincoln Cathedral, go in the Morning Chapel, look in the front left corner, and marvel at the huge, ornately gilded doors to what was probably once an aumbry. What would you imagine is inside now? I can tell you, because the verger showed me: hard hats, flower arranging supplies and old kneelers. It's the fanciest looking store cupboard in the world.

And then I had a few minutes to look around and admire the place again before moving on. This soaring structure built hundreds of years ago, by hand, workers hanging off ropes or scrambling over wooden scaffolding, without any of our modern tools or know-how. Take a look at the photo. You see how the arches and bosses don't quite line up? That's because it was all being done by eye, on the fly, suspended on rickety ladders and pulleys. And yet it's a masterpiece. I don't think we could build one today if we wanted to. What's sadder still, though, is that I don't think we'd want to in the first place.

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