Hand-Carving a Tracery Window at Fort Washington Collegiate Church in Manhattan

I absolutely love historic stonework, especially when it comes to churches and colleges that pre-date even the founding fathers. This last month, we were able to work on the Fort Washington Collegiate Church in Manhattan by hand-carving a tracery window. While this specific building was erected in 1907, it is actually a part of a much bigger group of churches, called the Collegiate Churches of New York. These churches date as far back as 1623.

It’s All in the Details

A church with that much history demands detail and attention with any addition or renovation. My time was well spent, though, as this beautiful tracery window, completely hand-carved, was installed just a few weeks after we began the project and is now posed to impress generations to come.

Tracery windows are excellent features in most historic buildings, especially churches. Divided into glass sections and supported by stone bars and molding, these windows typically end up being stained with imagery from Scripture – but even frosted or kept clear these windows display pure beauty and elegance.

Take a look at our pictures below.