Part 5 (2/2)

DEVON COB

The following paragraph, taken fro_, is of interest:

”The cob walls of Devonshi+re have been known to last above a century without requiring the slightest repair, and the Rev W Elicombe, who has himself built several houses of two stories with cob walls, says that he was born in a cob-wall parsonage built in the reign of Elizabeth, or somewhat earlier, and that it had to be taken down to be rebuilt only in the year 1831”

_Fruit Walls_--Again quoting Mr Baring-Gould: ”Cob walls for garden fruit are incoive it out through the night, and when protected on top by slates, tiles, or thatch, will last for centuries” It will be seen that the disadvantages of cob buildings are solely due to faults of construction, and not to any inherent defect in properly es, fararden walls is ithin the coent worke could be advantageously built in every county, but only that where it has been used and liked for centuries, a wise building policy would encourage its continuance

The materials are at hand, and the population ready to welco-place

[Headnote: Old Cob Lore]

_An Old Authority_--An old writer treating of cottage-building thus delivers hi the waste lands of the kingdo been introduced into the House of Coriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later, to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small housesout of allotments of such wastes, we have been induced to submit to the consideration of the Board three plans of such small houses to be built of different species of materials

”The first is with ether, and which, by degrees, is laid on, stratu not uncoes, and even for better houses, barns, etc, in the western and sodom It is the cheapest habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and coain:

”Walls of mud, or of compressed earth, are still more economical than those of timber, and if they were raised on brick or stone foundations, the height of a foot or 18 in above the ground, or above the highest point at which dung or ainst them, their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly constructed and kept perfectly dry The cob walls of Devonshi+re, which are forether by oxen, have been known to last above a century without requiring the slightest repair; and we think that there are many farmers, especially in America and Australia, who if they kne easily walls of this description could be built, would often avail thericultural purposes

”The solidity of cob walls dependsthem, for if hurried, the walls will surely be crippled, that is, they will swag or swerve from the perpendicular It is usual to pare down the sides of each successive rise before another is added to it The instrument used for this purpose is like a baker's peel (a kind of wooden shovel for taking the bread out of the oven), but the cob-parer is made of iron The lintels of the doors and s and of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work advances (allowance beingthe carried up solid The respective openings are cut out after the work is well settled In Devonshi+re the builders of cob-wall houses like to begin their hen the birds begin to build their nests, in order that therebefore winter The outer walls are plastered the following spring Should the work be overtaken by winter before the roof is on, it is usual to put a te of thatch upon the walls, to protect them from the frost”

[Headnote: Mr Fulford's Evidence]

_Mr Fulford's Evidence_--Mr Fulford, of Great Fulford, near Exeter, whose own village and estate can show as ood examples of old cob work as any place in Devon, writes as follows:

_Cost_--”It is not possible to give a close esti in cob, stone, or brick, as this must depend upon the exact locality of the site It may, however, be of assistance if I quote particulars of the relative cost of cob and stone building in Devon in the year 1808 when cob was in coh rubble, and not with square or dressed blocks It must be borne in mind that up to that date practically all material, stone, lime, etc, was carried on horses' backs Wheeled carts which began to creep in about the beginning of 1800, were not in general use until twenty or thirty years later As a boy I knew a far to Dunsford In 1838 the Rector of Bridford (the 'Christowell' of Blackmore's novel) recorded the fact that in 1818 there was only one cart in the parish and it was scarcely used twice a year In 1808 the price of building varied according to the district In the northern part of the county the co the value of three quarts of cider or beer daily, was from 22d to 24d the perch (16 ft), 22 in in width and 1 ft in height Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of materials, stoneorked out at fro measure, and cob estimated in like manner at about 3s 6d Masons when not employed by the piece received 2s per day, and allowance of beer or cider In the Dunstone district (the clay shales from which make the best cob) th, 18 in thick, and 1 ft

high, stone and all materials found and placed on the spot; cob work of the same measure was 14d In the South Hams district masonwork cost 2s

6d, and cob 2s per perch of 18 ft in length, 2 ft thick, and 1 ft

high”

_Use of Shuttering_--”In those parts of the red land where Dunstone shi+llot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was ravel, and frequently the cob was laid and trodden down between side boards as used in building concrete walls Three cartloads of clay built a perch and a half of wall 20 in wide and 1 ft deep

Eight bundles of barley straw, equal to one pack-horse load, were mixed and te_--”Thatching in 1808 cost 8s per square of 10 ft; 100 sheaves of wheat-straw reed, weighing 25 lb each, were sufficient for one square Thatching, however, is not, as s; slate found in many parts of Devon was frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole slates, tiles, and unfortunately, froated iron, have to a large extent supplanted thatch”

_A Protective Wash_--”Vancouver, in his report on the Survey of Devon for the Board of Agriculture in 1808, gave the following recipe, which he described as a preserving and highly orna into common use: 'Four parts of pounded lime, three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of scoria of iron, ether and made sufficiently fluid to be applied with a brush When dry it gives the appearance of new Portland stone, and affords an excellent protection against the penetrating force of the south-westerly storms”