Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Wilson and Baker, Architects from Albany, New York, joined all three of us to
tour British sites of significant brick-built buildings of the same period as the St.
Mary's Chapel. Now, with this newfound knowledge and skills - and the founda-
tion work on site complete - the primary reconstruction could commence.
Through mortar analysis on original mortar from the foundation, it was
determined that an oyster-shell lime mortar was used. This came as no surprise
because of the abundance of oyster-shell that had been discarded by hundreds
of years of consumption by Native Americans, and became a readily available
source of Calcium Carbonate. The St. Mary's City Foundation provided three
tractor and trailer loads (approximately 600 bushels) of Chesapeake Bay Oyster-
shells for use in mortar for the exterior face brickwork and interior finish plas-
ter for the Chapel. The oyster-shells were then loaded into our lime kiln, which
is an incorporation of both traditional design with my own modifications, and
fired. Softwoods such as pine are normally utilized in burning, producing long
flames that incorporate the burning zone with relatively little ash. The kiln is
burned for approximately a day. We were able to source an ASTM graded sand
which matched the color and gradient of the original sand, which was used with
the quicklime to produce the hot mixed mortars used in the reconstruction.
Archaeological evidence had revealed that the original bricks used to build
the church were made near to the site of the chapel. To get compatible mod-
ern replacement bricks it was eventually decided to go for handmade, slop-
molded and wood fired face brick for the external walls, along with a factory
produced 'Cushwa' wood mold brick to be used for the backup walling. These
were subsequently ordered and later delivered to the site.
Two pole and canvas sheds were set up on site. The first allowed the pro-
tected preparation of all the lime mortars prior to any bricklaying. The second
to facilitate the large quantity of hand carved brick preparation that would
eventually be used on the project, such as the cut-molded plinth, arch vous-
soirs, and capitals to the ashlared pilasters with entasis, a niche and the ter-
minal cornice. By cutting and rubbing our decorative brickwork the bricklayer
could make very true shapes, and exactly the profile that was needed, with no
distortion (which can be caused during the firing process of green-molded
shapes), with proper returns, and maintain bonds.
The Cutting Shed was set out and equipped in the manner I had seen during
my time in England, where we had been kindly allowed to take photographs
and precise measurements of tools and equipment in order to get replicas
made upon our return.
The layout of the shed was such that each 'Red Mason' would only be one
step away from everything he would need, increasing productivity and effi-
ciency. Primarily cutting and rubbing was performed on days with inclement
weather. In the center of the shed, just behind the bankers, lay two large rub-
bing stones, made of Briar Hill Sandstone bedded on brick piers for rubbing
