Ashlar is a cut and dressed stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Dry ashlar masonry laid in parallel courses on an Inca wall at Machu Picchu
Ashlar masonry north gable of Banbury Town Hall, Oxfordshire
Ashlar polygonal masonry in Cuzco, Peru
Quarry-faced red Longmeadow sandstone in random ashlar was specified by architect Henry Hobson Richardson for the North Congregational Church (Springfield, Massachusetts, 1871). Although each block was cut with great precision on adjacent faces, the external face was left rough as when removed from the quarry. The blocks were laid randomly without continuous courses or vertical and horizontal joints.
Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound and pasted together by mortar. The term masonry can also refer to the building units themselves.
A mason laying a brick on top of the mortar
Bridge over the Isábena river in the Monastery of Santa María de Obarra, masonry construction with stones
Dry set masonry supports a rustic log bridge, where it provides a well-drained support for the log (which will lengthen its service life).
Stone masonry
