William Joy

[1] Joy is first mentioned in the records of the Benedictine abbey church of St Augustine (now Bristol Cathedral) c. 1310, where he may have designed the Berkeley Chapel sacristy.

He was next recorded at Salisbury Cathedral, where he created the first of the strainer arches he became known for, designed to stop the collapse of an enlarged crossing tower.

[2] William Joy was a colleague of the master mason Thomas Witney, and took over his work at Wells Cathedral in 1329.

[7] The Bishop of Exeter, John Grandisson, founded a new church at Ottery St Mary, which was built by Joy.

[11] William Joy's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published in March 2021.