The following paragraph, taken from C. B. Allen's _Cottage-Building_, is
of interest:
"The cob walls of Devonshire 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 incomparable. They retain the warmth of the sun and give 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 made cob as a material, and that the
construction of cottages, farm buildings, and garden walls is well
within the compass of an averagely intelligent workman.
It is not intended to argue that the cob cottage 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 welcome this form
of dwelling-place.
[Headnote: Old Cob Lore]
_An Old Authority._--An old writer treating of cottage-building thus
delivers himself:
* * *
"A Bill for inclosing the waste lands of the kingdom having been
introduced into the House of Commons, under the auspices of the Board of
Agriculture, and as so beneficial a Bill cannot fail, sooner or later,
to pass into a law, and as in consequence thereof, many small houses
must necessarily be built, suited to small estates issuing out 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 mud walls, composed of soft mire and straw,
well trodden together, and which, by degrees, is laid on,
stratum-super-stratum, to the height required; a species of building not
uncommon for cottages, and even for better houses, barns, etc., in the
western and some other parts of the kingdom. It is the cheapest
habitation that we can construct and is also very dry and comfortable."
* * *
And again:
* * *
"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 moist straw was ever likely to be placed against
them, their durability would be equal to that of marble, if properly
constructed and kept perfectly dry. The cob walls of Devonshire, which
are formed of clay and straw trodden together 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 knew how easily walls of this description could be built,
would often avail themselves of them for various agricultural purposes.
"The solidity of cob walls depends much upon their not being hurried in
the process of making them, 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 windows and
of the cupboards and other recesses are put in as the work advances
(allowance being made for their settling), bedding them on cross pieces,
and the walls being carried up solid. The respective openings are cut
out after the work is well settled. In Devonshire the builders of
cob-wall houses like to begin their work when the birds begin to build
their nests, in order that there may be time to cover in the shell of
the building before 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 temporary covering 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 many good examples of old cob
work as any place in Devon, writes as follows:
* * *
_Cost._--"It is not possible to give a close estimate of what would now
be the comparative cost of a building 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 common use. The
stonework referred to was rough 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 farmer who
remembered the first wheeled cart coming 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 common price of
stonework, including the value of three quarts of cider or beer daily,
was from 22d. to 24d. the perch (16-1/2 ft.), 22 in. in width and
1 ft. in height. Including all expenses of quarrying and carriage of
materials, stonework worked out at from 5s. to 6s. per perch running
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) masonwork was 18d. per rope of 20 ft. in length, 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
shillot or clay shale is not available, the red clay was mixed with
small stones or gravel, 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 tempered with nine cartloads of clay."
_Roofing._--"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 many suppose, indispensable
as a roofing for cob buildings; slate found in many parts of Devon was
frequently used, and of late years Welsh and Delabole slates, tiles, and
unfortunately, from the picturesque point of view, corrugated 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 ornamental wash for rough-cast
that was then getting into common use: 'Four parts of pounded lime,
three of sand, two of pounded wood ashes, and one of scoria of iron,
mixed well together 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."
_Rendering._--"For the rough-weather sides of cob buildings I have found
cement and sand, finished with a rough surface, satisfactory, and far
more durable than ordinary lime and gravel rough cast. For interior cob
walls, laths are not necessary. The old plastering was frequently laid
on too thick. Of late years I have used with excellent results granite
silicon plaster for ceilings and walls. This requires no hair, and is
easily applied."
_The Cob Tradition._--"Cob-making was, like many other local trades,
carried on in some families from generation to generation and developed
by them into an art, but apart from these specialists, practically every
village mason and his labourers built as much with cob as they did with
stone. There are men still left in various parts of the county who have
made cob, and it would, in my opinion, be of advantage if demonstrations
could be given by them to discharged sailors and soldiers who are
anxious to take up work on the land."
_Training of ex-Soldiers._--"In cob-building, as in many other arts and
crafts, a little showing is of far greater help to the novice than any
amount of text-book instruction. The knowledge and experience that these
men would gain from being shown, and better still, assisting an expert
in making cob, would be of material advantage in the development of the
county scheme promoted by the Central Land Association for the
establishment of ex-Service men on the land. They could try their
'prentice hands on walls, tool-sheds, cart linhays, etc., for their own
use, and some no doubt would develop into expert builders capable of
constructing walls for dwelling-houses from approved plans."
_1819 Conditions Returned._--"The depletion of our home-grown timber
supply and the prohibitive cost of practically all building material has
in effect brought about the conditions that led our forefathers to
utilise suitable material that lay nearest to hand, and unless some
endeavour is made to follow their methods and profit by their example,
it will be impossible to provide sufficient buildings for the necessary
equipment of the allotments and small holdings, let alone housing
accommodation for the workers on the land."
* * *
[Headnote: A Champion of Cob]
There is probably no one who knows more about cob than does Mr.
Fulford--certainly no one who has done more to promote the revival of
cob-building both by precept and example.
Cob is the traditional material of his native place, he has, as it were,
been brought up on cob--he is familiar with both the ancient history and
the modern practice of cob-building, and in short, he "knows."
When a revivalist has knowledge as well as enthusiasm, the grounds of
his faith are usually worth serious attention.