Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The differences in gauging of rubbed work to the adjoining standard facework
is the manifestation of the problem Pratt (below) pondered. With almost all
bricks moulded to a similar size, once the rubbers were abraded, cut, and set
with the tight joint for gauged work it could not be maintained to a comple-
mentary gauge with the standard facework laid with nominal joints throughout
the height of the structure (Fig. 66).
Figure 66
The difference in the
vertical gauge of the
standard brickwork to
the ashlared gauged
work at 8, Market Place,
Woburn (Bedfordshire),
c
.1730.
The nation's long and deep affection for brickwork and the emergence of the
popular classicist style of architecture facilitated a rapid acceptance of Dutch-
styled gauged brickwork at all levels of design and use. The flowering of science,
the arts and of craftsmanship of the highest order characterises post-Restoration
England, and gauged work, within the art of the bricklayer, simply embodied the
spirit of that age. Charles II was patron of the Royal Society, formed in 1660,
for improving national knowledge at a time when science pervaded everything,
including architecture. The nation began to take a renewed pride in itself,
emerging as a world leader with London, and not Amsterdam, at its centre.
In examining the acceptance and correct use of gauged brickwork and how
the associated knowledge and skills were disseminated, it is important to obtain
an overview of four key architects. In the Restoration of 1660, King Charles
II reconstituted The Royal Office of Works, granting positions to those who
had served him in exile. These were Sir Hugh May (1621-84), Sir Roger Pratt
(1620-85), and later Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), and Dr. Robert Hooke
(1635-1703). These men were scholars, some were travelled, and all were
well read, and greatly influenced by the fashionable continental designs and
