[Cob] 500 yr old cob

[hms.mommy at juno.com]

This draws attention to an underused resource: people who are or have
lived in historic cob homes.  I wonder if there might already be a list
or other organization to which some of these people belong.  Do any of
you know of such a thing?   


On Jul 22, 2007, at 2:22 PM, Kathryn Marsh wrote:
 
> I've seen five hundred year old cob dissolve in a few weeks when  
> the thatch was allowed to deteriorate but my grandparents' wattle  
> and daub house was built in the 13th century and survived the 1947  
> flooding of the English fenlands when they escaped by boat through  
> a hole in the thatch. Although the cob was damaged in places it  
> dried out and was easily repaired. Same thing in the great flood of  
> 1953 - tho' that time grandad got out before the water arrived but  
> again it was flooded almost to the eaves.  I think both times the  
> secret to its survival was that it was whitewashed every year and  
> that the water didn't actually get into the top of the walls. Alas,  
> it didn't survive greedy developers who demolished it to make room  
> for modern expensive executive homes in the days before the  
> protection of ancient buildings. Could have been older - the road  
> by the front gate was on roman foundations but it was only recorded  
> back to 1280 or thereabouts
>
> kathryn