Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
That gauged brickwork was considered the supreme test of mastery within
the craft is confirmed by Noble (1836, 28):
At a former period, it used to be the pride of the bricklayer to produce a spec-
imen of his skill, in the formation of a Roman Doric column and entablature,
or some other elaborate form, in gauged brickwork: but it subsequently ceased
to meet the eye of the architect, and gave place to rapid, coarse, and too often
imperfect execution; result of new system of operative task work.
Demand for quality handcrafted brickwork, begun in the period of the Gothic
Revival, was explored to new and exciting creative possibilities by the so-called
Queen Anne Style, leading to a renaissance of the use of gauged brickwork.
This was especially so in wealthy, vibrant, and hugely influential London.
Master bricklayers possessing skills and knowledge of gauged work provided
the main route for the chosen apprentices to learn from inside the cutting shed
and on site, but the Industrial revolution was also introducing new materials and
associated techniques beyond the traditional knowledge of the masters. This
resulted in a need for bricklayers to have broader skills and underpinning know-
ledge. By the third quarter of the nineteenth century, under the 1889 'Technical
Instruction Act' it became possible for indentured apprentices to attend state-
funded technical colleges. At first these apprenticeships were under the auspices
of the Board of Education (Rivington, 1901, VII) and later the City and Guilds
of London Institute (CGLI). In this environment the more able student could
gain the theory, technology, and practical tuition to supplement site work, enab-
ling him to study and produce gauged work to the most exacting of standards.
The duration of apprenticeships was generally accepted as four or five years
but could still be as long as seven, being dependent on one's experience, espe-
cially if one came from a family of bricklayers; and of course the level to which
one was to be taught. The boy's parents or guardians generally paid a fee, prior
to indenturing, to the master, or more commonly by this period the company,
to whom he was 'bound'. It is important to acknowledge that, as there had
been in earlier periods, there were some women employed as bricklayers too,
albeit as a very small percentage of the total number nationally. Nineteenth-
century occupation tables of the census figures for great Britain give 107
women out of a total of 39,806 bricklayers, or 0.3%, in 1841, and by 1891 that
figure had dropped to 0.2%, or 66 women out of a total of 130,446 bricklayers
(Clarke and Wall, 2006, 40).
At these new colleges qualified lecturers were chosen for their craft skills,
technical competence, wide experience, and ability to convey their subject in
an erudite manner. Most were site men (some from the army's engineering
corps), formerly employed as foremen bricklayers, general foremen, or clerks
of work. Attracted to teaching by their love of the craft, lecturing now offered
better conditions of service and workplace, status, and well-motivated and
