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.
[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.
II
PISÉ DE TERRE
II
PISÉ DE TERRE
[§ I.] General
What it is.—“Pisé de terre” is merely the French for rammed earth, and rammed earth is an exceedingly good material for the building of walls.
The odd thing is that its very obvious merits should have secured it such small attention.
It is no new-fangled war-time invention brought forth by our present necessity, but a very ancient system well proved by centuries of trial.
History.—Pliny gives an excellent account of Pisé-building in his Natural History, and Monsieur Gorffon, who published a treatise on this method of construction in 1772, states that it was first introduced into France by the Romans.