Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Street, and Cadogan, and Hans Place Estates in Chelsea of Cadogan Square
and Pont Street, London. Sadly, the master bricklayers who worked on these
properties are unknown, lost in the anonymous economic changes that saw
their employers, large building firms, take the credit for their work. The fol-
lowing companies are some of the most noted that worked on the above devel-
opments (Girouard, 1977, 228-9):
●
Gillow and Company (contractors, Chelsea Embankment, 1876-78)
●
Jackson and Graham (contractors, Tite Street, 1880)
●
Kirk and Randall (contractors, Chelsea Embankment, 1878-79)
●
Simpson and Sons (contractors, Cadogan Square, 1886)
●
Trollope and Sons (contractors, Cadogan Square, 1876-86)
●
Trollope and Sons (contractors, Pont Street, 1876-83)
●
Thomas Pink and Son (contractors, Cadogan Square,
c.
1877-85)
●
Thomas Pink and Son (contractors, Pont Street, 1876-77)
We must content ourselves that, at least, the fruits of the skilful labour of the
master bricklayers in producing gauged work of the highest order - despite
the best efforts of the German Luftwaffe and the equally destructive post-war
planners and developers - are still to be seen and marvelled at.
Though less exuberant, the brick buildings of Bedford Park, London, many
of which have charming gauged brickwork detailing, owe their origin to the
aesthetic movement and ideals of Ruskin and Morris. Developed in three
phases in the years between 1875 and 1886, when the buildings were to the
Queen Anne designs of several leading architects like E.W. Godwin (1833-86)
and Norman Shaw. A final phase between 1887 and 1914 saw the estate broken
up and the land developed in a variety of ways. Gauged work was still being
employed on brick-built buildings as, later, the fashion slowly changed to the
less exuberant Edwardian style, for finishing simple enrichments to principal
elevations. This lasted until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914
(Fig. 119).
The eclipse of gauged work was due to several contributory factors, the
decline of the large town and country house, expensive handmade bricks (up
to three times the cost of those made by machine) and the increasing cost of
labour. Labour-intensive and highly skilled gauged work priced itself out of the
builder and client's pocket. A major factor, however, was the 1914-18 war.
A huge number of Britain's finest craftsmen were lost to industry in the
trenches, leaving an indelible mark on the quality of work that was to follow. A
parallel can be drawn with the noticeable difference in standards of masonry
work of medieval cathedrals and churches, left only part-completed when the
Black Death struck. The loss of the finest skilled masons left their completion
in the hands of semi-skilled people with neither the full knowledge nor skills
