Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Historian for the project, was able to inform him that this observation tied-in
with an aspect of her findings, revealed in a letter written by Pearce stating
that:
…
the whole is better brick worke than ever I saw out of Holland and I believe both bricks
and workmen came from thence, the best of their kinds
(Letter in Chatsworth Library
from E.L. Pearce to Lord Burlington dated 24th October 1726)
Later, whilst examining for the first time copies of the Pearce drawings Gerard
pointed out the hand-written account of the post-fired worked enrichments
that described them as '
Rub'd and Gadged
' (see Fig. 48). He emphasised that
Pearce was using later eighteenth-century terminology to describe the cut and
rubbed work. Also, though the quality of this early seventeenth brickwork on
Jigginstown House was very good, Pearce was being over generous in his praise,
as it does not correspond to the high-quality work achieved by bricklayers in
the Netherlands at that time. He, therefore, doubted Pearce's assertion that
craftsmen from the Low Countries had been employed in its erection, believ-
ing it to be the work of English bricklayers who would have been well versed in
such cutting and rubbing skills. Research into the origins of the clay used for
the bricks carried out by Dr. Sara Pavia of Trinity College indicates that a local
clay was used. Pearce's drawings show, though they have been ruined for over
three hundred and fifty years, how all the chimney stacks were also detailed
with 'cut and rubbed' buff bricks for the plinthed bases as well as the linked,
projecting, heads above their slender red-brick shafts. There can be little
doubt when this building was finished, the face brickwork would have been an
impressive sight. Having read all the research material and discussed with all
the timescale for the erection of this house, our historic brickwork consultant
was of the opinion that it was built with a strong mortar to facilitate the rapid
speed of its erection and survive the notoriously damp climate of Ireland. The
grey appearance of the hard original vault mortar being indicative of the addi-
tion of a 'pozzolana' called 'trass' that was processed and sold by the Dutch.
This again tied up with Dr. Fenlon's research that had revealed that a John
Allen had acted as a 'factor' for the Dutch to sell their various building materi-
als during the construction of Jigginstown House.
There are many different conservation and consolidation issues to be
resolved at Jigginstown but initially, under our Historic Brickwork Consultant's
guidance, we decided to concentrate on supporting the external brick facing
on the front of the building. The external red brick sections between open-
ings, which still showed widespread traces of the original colour washing, were
literally hanging on to the front of the building without any visible means of
support other than the strength of the mortar beds and collar joints (Fig. 49).
