Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The compasses were, and remain, important geometrical instruments for
scribing the arcs and circles involved in setting out mouldings on wainscot, or
pasteboard, suitably sized for cutting into templets to which the required brick
shape could answer.
In concluding this examination of the seventeenth-century city bricklay-
er's tools, one must bear in mind how many or, more likely, how few 'cutting
sheds', or 'cutting shops', and craftsmen Moxon saw or spoke with during his
research. This obviously limited the depth of this writing, as undoubtedly craft
secrets would not have been openly shared. One must accept, therefore, that
descriptions may be incomplete or, indeed, have omissions that would have
been an essential part of contemporary practice with craft tools, equipment
and materials.
In the third section of his treatise, Moxon considers and elaborates on good
practice for foundations and sub-structure brickwork whilst again not germane
to this thesis, Moxon (1703, 257) details ten '…neceffary Rules to be obferved
in the laying of Bricks, to make the Walls ftrong and durable…'.
None of these ten rules, regrettably, make any mention of preparing or set-
ting gauged work. Although good craftsmanship is mentioned, it is not detailed.
One must remember that the seventeenth-century craftsman knew how to work
'according to demand'; a phrase often written into contemporary contracts.
A craft practice that would have definitely been employed, especially with
regard to the execution of gauged work, was the use of timber profiles. Profiles
were and remain the standard equipment for controlling accuracy of brick-
work in the Netherlands where they are termed 'profiels'.
Taking into account how the skills of gauged work came to us from the
Dutch, it then follows that these essential techniques necessary for achiev-
ing the same high standards came in a similar way. Profiles, as the name indi-
cates, are the outlined shape of the proposed walling element. Set-out to the
required line, level, and vertical position, they are then marked to the rele-
vant gauge, allowing the bricks to be accurately set to lines strained from the
appropriately braced profiles. Lines cannot be strained from newly laid gauged
brickwork, like standard facework, as the bricks would slide or be pulled from
position. Later eighteenth-century topics do occasionally refer to timber guides
to erect masonry to profile, such as 'diminishing rules' for erecting pilasters,
or columns with entasis. All fail, however, to relate that these would generally
have been fixed rather than brought to the wall as needed in order to set-out,
check, and guide construction.
Moxon (1703, 212) concludes with two more rules explaining the '…Act of
Parliament…as it relates to
Bricklayers
Work'. This reference to the Act of 1667,
which detailed the four classes of brick houses allowed after the Great Fire,
emphasises how his treatise was primarily intended for city bricklayers and
buildings.
