Works
Stone owed his early success in London in part to Inigo Jones, the King's Surveyor, under whom he first worked at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, in 1616, which led to the spectacular contract, for building Jones's Banqueting House, that placed him in the forefront of London builders.
Throughout his life, Stone recorded his work in two journals; These are his autograph notebook (covering the years 1614–1641) and his accounts book (covering 1631-1642). These journals record all his works and patrons, and provide in unequalled detail documentation of the career of an architect (then known as a surveyor) of the period. A list of works by Stone's relative John Stoakes includes some work known not to have been designed by Stone, including Inigo Jones' Banqueting House, Whitehall, but permits some attributions, noted below. This amount of information available concerning Stone has led to his importance to English architecture often being overstated. However, the documentation does clearly prove that by 1629 he was England's foremost sculptor and that by the end of his life he held comparable status in architecture. His first appointment in the royal Office of Works was as "master mason and architect" to Windsor Castle in April 1626; in 1632 he succeeded William Cure as Master Mason to the Crown.
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