From Scotland’s Quarries to Canada’s Capital: Master Stonemason Bobby Watt’s Parliament Hill Tour

By Dave Johnston

The Scottish Society of Ottawa organized a guided walking tour of the ongoing rehabilitation of Parliament Hill. We were guided by Bobby Watt, master stonemason, owner of RJW Stonemasons, and musician.

Born and trained in Scotland, Bobby apprenticed to John Thomson on the Isle of Arran off Scotland's west coast. Bobby arrived in Canada in 1975. A seasoned and respected stone mason Bobby’s firm has been working on the parliament hill restoration project for over 30 years. The Parliament Hill rehabilitation project encompasses the largest heritage masonry restoration in North America, focusing on the century-old Centre Block.

Crews are individually cataloging, repairing, and cleaning over 365,000 exterior stones using advanced lasers and traditional hand-carving techniques. Bobby explained the process for building parliament including the various types of stones and mortar used.

Bobby began the tour by providing some historical context to stonemasonry and Scotland by referencing one of the founders of Ottawa and builder of the locks on the Rideau Canal, Scottish stonemason, Thomas Mackay.

Bobby also detailed some of parliament’s history, including the collapse of part of West Block due to poor quality mortar, and the installation of the huge counterweight in the MacKenzie tower to prevent it from swaying in the wind.  This invention dates back to ancient China.

He also pointed out the lower entrance in West Block, which looks like a mouse hole, and hence has two cats ready to pounce carved over the doorway and he commented on why the unicorn on the coat of arms over the main door of West Black is missing his horn.

Bobby’s shared that his proudest achievement is the curved archways above the entrance to the Visitor Centre, elaborating that it took a lot of complex calculating and engineering to complete.

 Following the tour, we retired to D’Arcy McGee’s Pub for refreshments and fellowship.

Bobby has also provided a detailed presentation entitled Conservation & Repair of Heritage Stonework.