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 (16½ 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.”
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.