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.
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.”
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: