Simon Verity (PR 1959-63), who has died aged 79, was a master sculptor and stone carver whose work spanned cathedrals, churches, gardens, and grottoes on both sides of the Atlantic. His artistry graced Exeter, Wells, and St John the Divine in New York, where he led the monumental carving of the cathedral’s “Portal of Paradise”.

A revivalist of 18th-century grotto-making, Verity created richly detailed caverns of shells, quartz, and salvaged oddities, including one for his old school, Marlborough, where he installed a giant clam shell fountain found in Harrods.

Born in Buckinghamshire into a family of architects, Verity emerged from Marlborough College a rebellious youth and apprenticed informally with his great uncle, Oliver Hill, at Daneway in the Cotswolds. There, he absorbed a rich Arts and Crafts ethos and met formative figures like poet David Jones and stone conservator Robert Baker.

Throughout his life, Verity’s patrons included Prince Charles, Elton John, and Roy Strong. His work extended from cathedral sculpture to gravestones, sundials, and interior designs with secret doors and whimsical flourishes. He despised power tools, estimating he made “many millions” of hammer blows by hand.

In 1989, after a personal and professional setback, he relocated to New York, where he completed the St John the Divine portal amid the challenges of winter weather, tourist crowds, and dwindling funds. His carvings blended biblical narrative with contemporary symbolism—Noah bore the likeness of the cathedral’s dean, and a scene of Jerusalem’s fall was set in New York with looming mushroom clouds, eerily foreshadowing 9/11.

Simon Verity is survived by his second wife, Martha, and three children from his first marriage to the artist Judith Mills.