Moon Gate
After The Northumberland Dry Stone Wall Festival -
May 2009
"Romancing the Stone" with a Moon Gate
The Student Wall from the original festival was unfinished
due mainly to inclement weather which slowed progress.
We decided to have the wall finished in May 2009, but with a
major enhancement -- a "Moon Gate" centered on the
wall, with an opening 54 inches in diameter.
This wall has now become a focal point of our garden and
creates the atmosphere of a partially enclosed Victorian Garden.
John, Evan, Joe and Cory did a spectacular job of creating
this masterpiece, apparently the first one in Canada.
|
|
Click on any image for full size:
|
|
Bringing in more stone; the unfinished wall from the festival |
A half-circle form is used for initial sizing |
Marguerite is the Master of Hearting! |
 |
Building the base for the Moon Gate tedious and demanding... |
...but John is up to the job! |
 |
Batter lines in place for the rest of the wall |
Building the support stones around the moon gate |
Hauling stones makes a Hungry Waller!
|
Flipping the form over and... |
...aligning it and ... |
...leveling it to make a... |
...perfectly circular Moon Gate. |
Each stone chiseled to fit |
Building the top |
As this will form a self-supporting arch,... |
...each piece must be meticulously fitted... |
...so that all forces work together to hold the arch up. |
There's a lot of weight on that form; let's hope it can take it! |
With it pouring rain, John kept his tools dry under a BlueBox. |
Making great progress in spite of a full day of steady rain. |
 |
Pounding in the Keystone for a tight fit. |
 |
Bird's Eye View |
Building an arch like this is a painstaking task of careful... |
...cutting and fitting to assure a self-supporting structure. |
 |
The west-end coping has been completed |
An exciting time as clean-up has begun. |
 |
 |
Working on the east end but it won't be finished today |
 |
Some final finishing touches |
Most clean-up complete; now for the exciting part... |
Removing the screws that support the form |
 |
Removing the legs |
 |
 |
 |
Only the hydraulic center post is holding now. |
John releases the hydraulic jack.. |
...and the form drops down and.. |
...YES! The arch stays up! |
Hauling away the form |
Still some moisture in the moon gate from two days of rain |
Gorgeous! |
Photo time |
John is proud of what they have done; the first one in Canada. |
Them what dunnit... |
...Evan, John, Corey, Joe |
Corey takes a break in the cool wet stone. |
Through the moon gate is visible the sheep shear down the hill. |
Evan plays in the form |
 |
 |
 |
 |
John does a final inspection. A Masterpiece! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Proud owners, Marguerite and Dave |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
