Cottage Building in Cob Pise Chalk and Clay Part 3

_COB_

-- I. GENERAL

If ever the counties of England recover their bygone loyalty to their own materials and their old traditions, then cob-building will return to Devon and the West. Cheap bricks, cheap transport, and the ign.o.ble rage for fas.h.i.+ons from the town went far to oust provincial cob from the affections of those whom, with their forbears, it had housed so well for several centuries.

Whether the new loyalty be from within, or be imposed from without by force of circ.u.mstances, matters little. What does matter is the fact of its revival.

For with it will come again the building of cottages that are knit intimately to their sites and surroundings as of old, cottages consanguineous with the ground they stand on, be it brick-earth, rock, or common soil.

The soil of Devons.h.i.+re and of many parts of Wess.e.x and of Wales serves excellently well for building in cob or "clom."[3]

[Footnote 3: Probably, indeed, there is no county in the kingdom that has not considerable areas where the soil would, if tried, prove well adapted for cob-building.]

The soil itself suggested the construction, and the men of Wess.e.x were quick to take the hint and to act on it.

The yeomen and small-holders of earlier days were commonly builders too, and often built their own homes in their own way, yet by the guiding light of local tradition.

Thus the old Devonian countryman in need of a house would set to and build it himself--of stone if that were handy and easily worked, of cob if it were not.

No doubt the doors and windows would be made and fitted by the village wheelwright; but the cottager himself would thatch or slate the roof as naturally and successfully as he built.

The skill and care with which these versatile amateurs built their houses was not always of the highest, and careless construction, like other sins, is visited on the children--the worse the sooner.

Thus it is that there are to-day plenty of old cob cottages that are both damp and insecure, but to condemn cob building in general because certain old builders were careless, ignorant, or incompetent is to condemn all materials from wattle and daub to ferro-concrete in the same breath.

Cob, being a humble, amenable, and thoroughly accommodating substance, has reaped the inevitable reward of good nature in being "put upon" and in being asked to stand what is quite beyond its powers of endurance, and yet Devon cob houses of Elizabethan date are not uncommon.

It is very reasonable in its demands, but two things it does require--dry foundations and a good protecting roof.

To quote an old Devons.h.i.+re saw on cob--"Giv'un a gude hat and pair of butes an' 'er'l last for ever."

In many instances the Devons.h.i.+re leaseholder, usually only a "life-lease" holder, built badly and on indifferent foundations. He neglected to repair his thatch, with the consequence that ruin followed sooner or later. He did not always use rough-cast, so that it often happened that by the time the lease expired the unfortunate landowner found that the cottage fell in--in the literal as well as in the legal sense. The lower portions of the walls were honey-combed with rat-holes, the walls bulged out or fissures resulted from subsidence, and the dwelling presented that appearance of squalor and meanness that has led so many to decry the mud buildings of Devon as relics of bygone barbarism. But if adequate care is bestowed on the construction, there is no reason why cob cottages should not prove at one and the same time comfortable to the inmates and pleasant to the eye, and endure for many generations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: +Another view of the Cob House built by Mr. Ernest Gimson, near Budleigh Salterton, Devon.+ _See Frontispiece_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: +A fine Specimen of a Devons.h.i.+re Cob House.+]

[Headnote: The Beauty of Cob]

As to their comeliness and longevity, a day's walk in Devon, or, failing that, a glance at the printed pictures will tell all that need be told.

That the beauty of cob buildings is not due merely to the irregularities and weathering produced by the pa.s.sage of time is sufficiently proved by the photographs of Mr. Gimson's charming cob cottage, taken soon after he had finished it.

The work was done a year or two before the war; this is Mr. Gimson's own description of the manner of its building:

"The cob was made of the stiff sand found on the site; this was mixed with water and a great quant.i.ty of long wheat straw trodden into it. The walls were built 3 ft. thick, pared down to 2 ft. 6 in., and were placed on a plinth standing 18 in. above the ground floor, and built of cobble stones found among the sand. The walls were given a coat of plaster and a coat of rough-cast, which was gently trowelled over to smooth the surface slightly. I believe eight men were engaged on the cobwork, some preparing the material, and others treading in on to the top of the walls. It took them about three months to reach the wall plate; the cost was 6s. a cubic yard, exclusive of the plastering. No centring was used.

The joists rested on plates, and above them the walls were reduced to 2 ft. 2 in. in thickness to leave the ends of the joists free. The beams also rested on wide plates and the ends were built round with stone, leaving s.p.a.ce for ventilation. Tile or slate lintels were used over all openings. The cost of the whole house was 6d. a cubic foot. Building with cob is soon learnt--of the eight men, only one of them had had any previous experience, and, I believe, he had not built with it for thirty years. This is the only house I have built of cob."

What is most interesting in this narrative is the workmen's lack of experience, which seems to have been no hindrance. Anyone who proposes to revive the use of cob may take courage from Mr. Gimson's evidence.

The time spent in building the walls was reasonable and the cost low. It may be guessed that the post-war rise in cost will be no greater in proportion, if as great, when compared with brickwork. The natural charm of the wall surface is enhanced by the crown of thatched roof, modelled with a skill which few can bring so certainly to their task as Mr.

Gimson.

[Headnote: Method of Building]

-- II. METHOD OF BUILDING

_Composition._--Cob is a mixture of shale and clay, straw and water.

Shale is a common and widely distributed stratified formation of a slaty nature, and there are few types of clay soil that would not serve for cob-making.

The precise relative proportion of the first two ingredients varies, depending on their individual peculiarities.

Local custom as to the composition and preparation of the mixture will generally be found to have adjusted itself to the peculiarities of the soil.

The following extract is from an a.n.a.lyst's report on a sample of typical old cob walling:

"The material when placed in water fell to pieces. On a.n.a.lysis, it was found to consist of:

Per cent.

Stones (residue on 7 by 7 mesh sieve) 2440 Sand, coa.r.s.e (residue on 50 by 50 mesh sieve) 1970 Fine sand (through 50 by 50 mesh sieve) 3250 Clay 2060 Straw 125 Water, etc. 155 ------ 10000 ------

"The material is a conglomerate of slaty gravel with a very sandy clay, to which mixture a small proportion of straw has been added.

"The clay acts as an agglutinant, and the straw as a reinforcement.

"Efficient protection from frost and rain would be necessary before such material could be considered weatherproof."

[Ill.u.s.tration: +A Devons.h.i.+re Cob Farmhouse, probably between 200 and 300 years old.+]

[Ill.u.s.tration: +A Cob-built Village.+]

(N.B.--Lime is occasionally added to the clay-shale, but this is not usual.)

_Mixing._--The old method of mixing by hand is as follows: A "bed" of clay-shale is formed close to the wall where it is to be used, sufficient to do one perch. A perch is superficial measurement described as 16 ft. long, 1 ft. high, and the amount of material will vary according to the thickness of wall required. Four men usually work together. The big stones are picked out. The material is arranged in a circular heap about 5 or 6 ft. in diameter.

Starting at the edge the men turn over the material with cob picks, standing and treading on the material all the time. One man sprinkles on water, and another sprinkles on barley straw from a wisp held under his left arm. The heap is then turned over again in the other direction, treading continuing all the time. "Twice turning" is usually considered sufficient. Straw bands may be wrapped puttee-wise around the legs of the men to keep them clean, and these are removed at the end of the day.

More rarely the mixing is done in a rough trough, whilst a power-driven "pan-mill" has also been tried with success; though one would think that the use of such a machine might tend to diminish the binding strength of the straw submitted to its grinding.

[Headnote: Implements]