Last updated 13:39, Thursday, 24 April 2008

Who built Carlisle Cathedral? The finishing touches were put to this magnificent building 600 years ago and little documentation survives.

Carlisle’s Cathedral Builders by Thirlie Grundy. Thumbprint £1.99.

So how can we blow away centuries of dust to uncover the men who created the cathedral? Because they left their signatures, now been interpreted by Carlisle art teacher Thirlie Grundy.

Britain’s builders had little experience of working with stone so Norman artisans crossed the Channel to build churches to a religion they barely understood.

Construction took about 300 years and generations of master builders added their own uncommissioned finishing touches to each stage. These were carved up in the heavens, where only the most keenly prying eyes could spot them.

Thirlie interprets one group of portraits from the 1280s as depicting one elderly married master with two sons in their 50s – both married – and two grandsons, one married, one single.

Her painstaking work adds another dimension to an already captivating building and sheds fascinating light on those who crafted it.

ROGER LYTOLLIS