Fwd: Re: [Cob] posts/pillars

[Kathryn Marsh]

>Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:05:08 +0100
>To: Copper Harding <copperharding at yahoo.com>
>From: Kathryn Marsh <kmarsh at iol.ie>
>Subject: Re: [Cob] posts/pillars
>Bcc: ƒ\cob list
>
>At 22:03 20/06/2005, you wrote:
>>Jfrost wrote:
>>
>>I've always wondered how the connection is made at the
>>base of the
>>    "post" or Pillar"  when I see photos of large tree
>>trunks that have
>>been
>>used  as the post on  porches etc.   they don't sink
>>them in the
>>ground,
>>   but what do they do?  anyone know?
>>
>>----
>Just got back from visiting a 17th century farmhouse in the Netherlands 
>which has four corner posts. Two have recently had to be renewed. They are 
>tree trunks standing on large cowhides - stone would just sink into the 
>peat in that area unless it had pilings underneath.
>My grandparents' house in the English fens had its king post simply 
>standing on end on the ground and that had rotted through at ground level 
>at some time during its 700 years of existence leaving the king post 
>supported by the rest of the cob structure and simply swinging free with 
>the stairs to the second floor pegged into it - very un-nerving for a 
>small child to climb on the way up to bed. Now gone alas. I've seen others 
>of the same date with a stone underneath and they are still fine.
>
>And on the subject of floors my grandparents added another coat of beeswax 
>every winter to their ancient mud floor. Don't know how long this had been 
>happening but the shine seemed to go on down forever.
>
>kathryn