Cob 17th century cob

[Michael Saunby]

> 
> 
> ----------
> > From: Michael Saunby  writes:
> 
> > Three months ago my wife and I moved house.  We are now the latest,
> proud,
> > owners of a 17th century cob farmhouse.  Neither of us has ever lived in
> > a cob (or thatched) house before but so far we have no regrets.
> > 
> > Is there anyone else in the group living in an old cob building?  

SNIP

>  
> Michael,
> 
> That sounds great!  Where are you?
> 
> You might contact the School or Architecture at the University of Plymouth.
>  Get the "Out of Earth II" conference papers.  There is all kinds of stuff
> about maintainance and repair of existing cob structures.
> 
> Best Wishes,
> Robert Bolman
> 

In Jacobstowe, between Okehampton and Hatherleigh, Mid Devon.

I'll try and get hold of those, thanks.

On Friday I attended a "Cob & Stone Repair Course" run by Mike Wye at
Buckland Filleigh, Devon.  He sells lime putty and various lime based
plasters, etc for restoration work.  We had a go at building a stone
wall and then applied various lime based finishes to it. He also had
us  making cob blocks, which are about the same size as the normal
concrete blocks but of course a lot weaker.  These are used for
repairing cob buildings, since new cob would shrink too much if
inserted in an existing wall.  The blocks were made from a mixture of
old, recycled, cob and new ingredients, with of course a measure of
his lime putty.


-- 
Michael Saunby
Teachmore Farm, Inwardleigh, Okehampton, Devon, United Kingdom. EX20 3AJ