Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Mechanick Exercises: OR, The Doctrine of Handy-Works.
Applied to the ART of Bricklayers Work
In his remarkable work,
Mechanick Exercises: OR, The Doctrine of Handy-Works.
Applied to the ART of Bricklayers Work,
Moxon (1703, 237) explains from the
start that:
Firft, I will fhew what Materials they ufe and their Compofition,
Secondly, I will treat of their Tools, and defcribe their Names and Ufes,
Thirdly, I will declare their Method of Working, both in Bricks, Tiles, & c
In the first part
Of Bricks
we have the first mention of the bricks for rubbing
and hewing:
But the beft Earth that we have in England for making of Bricks, is in the County
of Kent, from whence we have moft of the Bricks which are rubbed and Hewed
for the Ornaments of the chief Fronts in the City of London: The Ornamental
part of which Fronts, are done with the reddeft Bricks they can pick from among
them; and the Rough or Plain Work, is done with the Grey Kentifh Bricks.
(Moxon, 1703, 239)
Moxon reveals the need to bring into the city not only the best bricks for cut-
ting, but for the gauged enrichments to be in the 'reddest bricks', not possible
from the mass of London stocks being produced in the capital.
Moxon was also very specific about what type of lime was to be used for all
forms of constructional masonry (Moxon, 1703, 241):
There are two forts, one made of Stone, which is the ftrongeft, and the other of
Chalk, both forts being burnt in a kilne.
The Lime that is made of foft Stone or Chalk is ufeful for Plaftering of Seelings
and Walls within Doors, or on the infides of Houfes; and that which made of hard
Stone, is fit for Structures or Buildings, and Plaftering without Doors, or on the
out fide of Buildings that lies in the Weather….
Moxon is advocating the use of greystone lime as the principal binder for all
bricklaying mortars. Also called 'water-limes' these were capable of an internal
set (even below water) due to their burning characteristics and silica and alu-
mina within them that rendered them reactive during burning to form quick-
lime. Today, these water limes are termed 'hydraulic'. Pure or chalk limes,
Moxon emphasises, are only deemed suitable for internal and non-structural
work such as plastering. Then called 'air-limes' these were incapable of setting,
but instead only hardened by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
