Construction works General

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Workshops sprang up around every major construction site and employed stonemasons, stonedressers, carpenters, blacksmiths, carters, rope makers, sawyers, coopers and the like. Unskilled work was done by day labourers. Stone or wooden elements and auxiliary structures were manufactured directly at the works on site, known as the construction yard. The craftsmen often used specialised tools such as wooden hoists, winches, pulleys and rotating cranes, powered by hand or by large tread wheels.
Quite a number of people worked in construction, among whom natural and informal bonds were formed. The workshop also provided plenty of customers for the surrounding vendors, innkeepers and merchants, and most of the employees stayed overnight in the area. The workshop was run by a master builder who allocated tasks, managed the building process and dealt with the patron (sponsor) of the building.

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