Cob: Cob Classes

[Michael Saunby]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mafalda Stock" <mafalda.stock at yale.edu>
To: "Michael Saunby" <mike at chook.demon.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: Cob: Cob Classes


> Hello, Michael,
> Have YOU done cob?  I've had this dream of replicating a neato cottage or
> home, with ye olde worlde charm  -- hearth, exposed beams, etc., sort of
> pub-like, just like some of the buildings I remember from
> Bourton-on-the-Water, or even the Welsh brick farm house my friend lives
> in, with a quaint interior much as I described, with a large cob hearth
> with stone in front? and a  hefty wood beam right across it, including a
> side nook to heat water pr food, bake bread or whatever one can do.  I'm
> only telling you all this so you can imagine what I'm talking about.
> Have you dabbled in building something like that?
> Regards,
> Mafi Stock
> (ex Barnet, Herts citizen)
>
>

To be totally honest, I don't need to, at least not on that scale.  I live
in a 17th century cob farmhouse with a small cob outbuilding (probably all
that's left of an earlier house or barn).  Many of the properties nearby are
of similar age and construction.  I can do cob though, at least on a small
scale, for repairs, or entertainment.  I plan to build a new cob sheep shed
next year, extravagant I know, but as the house proves, the soil and climate
here is good for cob, the materials are to hand, and I'm not planning on
ever leaving, so a few months hard work is more of a gain than a loss.

This house has two such inglenook fireplaces, no fire at present, it's
summer, but in winter that's what heats the house.  Though now listed (i.e.
protected by law) even this house changes slowly, new doors, windows,
sometimes a floor... In the 19th century someone added a brick dairy, which
is now a kitchen, the roof of this extension was Delabole (Cornish) slate
originally, latter replaced, but now back as Delabole.  The main roof is
thatch of course, the straw is grown on a nearby farm, and the timber was
probably grown on this farm, which produced oak for construction until quite
recently - and there's folks that think cob was used because of a shortage
of other materials!  The stairs are of elm and the upper floors a mix of oak
and elm.  There are no ceilings downstairs, just large oak beams with the
board above them, light from upstairs glints through the gaps between the
boards.  Very romantic, etc.  I'm still an engineer though, and in the end I
see it for what it is, an exquisitly designed machine for living, shelter,
heat, food (cooked on an open fire).  That it was built so well by people
who knew the essence of life, is proved by its continued occupation for some
350 years so far, and it's not broken yet, so with luck, and care, it will
see a few more centuries.

There's a picture at http://www.chook.demon.co.uk/teachmore/teachm4.jpg The
small rusted roof to the left of the house covers the old cob shed, I've
fixed the walls and will in time have a go a thatching the roof.  The larger
shed to the far left is what I plan to replace with another cob shed.

The buildings to the right is my neighbour, until the 1970s this was a
derelict barn, now it's a house.

Michael Saunby