Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
higher level which one begins to be seen developing out of the earlier cut and
rubbed work and which immediately precedes the very precise gauged brick-
work, seen in the post-Restoration period. That stonemasons, or indeed the
best master bricklayers, who could work, when required as masons, may have
erected this gateway is not surprising given the history of these two branches of
masonry. The nature of the construction, particularly of the rusticated arch, is
highly suggestive of craftsmen very familiar with stonemasonry skills.
Close examination of the soffit to the rusticated arch, which provided shel-
ter from the weather, reveals the 'blinding-out' of the mortar joints to match
the colour of the bricks; creating an homogeneous appearance to the overall
masonry. This could have been achieved by several different methods. Rubbing-
up the wall whilst it still retained some moisture in the bricks forced part of
the resultant dust to adhere on the faces of the mortar joints. Alternatively, the
joints could have been pointed and a colour wash applied as at Jigginstown
House, or 'stopped-up' with an ochred pointing mortar to also achieve the
same result. The visual evidence further suggests that these ochred or 'blinded'
joints were lightly 'struck' then 'ruled', and possibly 'pencylled' to finish.
The remarkable changes in the first half of the seventeenth century in
domestic architecture produced ever-improving standards of brickwork, mani-
festing itself in a higher level of skill in working post-fired enrichments. The
influence of key personnel, like Nicholas Stone and Peter Mills, cannot be over
emphasised in how they enabled English post-Restoration architects and crafts-
men to absorb, design, and deliver classical gauged brickwork. It is in the fine
work of the century from the 1670s that we truly witness the finest expression
of English brickwork and, again, this influence was from the Netherlands and,
in particular, the provinces of North and South Holland.
The Dutch Influence on English Classical
Gauged Work
By 1609 the seven united provinces in the Netherlands, of which North and
South Holland were pre-eminent, became independent of Spanish rule. Within
only a few decades they experienced a 'Golden Age' of culture, prosperity,
and influence, with the Netherlands emerging as a major world power. The
united provinces benefited from the thousands of Flemish refugee craftsmen
and designers who had moved north to escape Spanish and religious persecu-
tion. From the early seventeenth century, one begins to witness Flemish craft
skills of 'Berwekte Baksteenen', or 'worked-on bricks', appearing on Dutch
buildings, serving as a prelude to their gauged brickwork.
This arrival of Flemish craftsmen in Holland was coincidentally at the dawn
of a Renaissance style (called 'Dutch Mannerism') of architecture that followed
