Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Hammond (1875, 114) is typically succinct on the same:
All gauge-work is measured by superficial measurement (unless otherwise speci-
fied); and every part that is exposed to view is taken in the dimensions.
Skewbacks, birds'-mouths, splays, beads, &c., are generally measured by the run.
But if measured as gauge-work, it is usual to ply the tape or a piece of string, close
to every part of the brick that is moulded, and afterwards measure it to get the
whole of the girth of the work, and this is multiplied by the length for the contents.
Arches are also measured by the girth multiplied by the length.
This practice of measurement for gauged work remained essentially the same
throughout the period. A factor never mentioned, but with a large impact on
price, was fineness of the joints - the tighter, the more expensive - as the cut-
ting, preparation, and setting all had to be of the very highest order.
The Use of Gauged Brickwork in the Revivalist Styles
On the use of gauged brickwork in the revivalist styles, Walker (1885, 14-15)
comments:
Owing to the revival of the Queen Anne style of architecture, brickwork now
occupies the foremost position in building construction…. Our popular archi-
tects delight to revel and indulge their fancies in red brickwork, as evidenced in
several public buildings of recent erection.
Walker (1885, 79), elucidating still on the proliferation of ornamental brick-
work and defending it against its critics, suggests:
Ornamental brickwork in this country has reached its greatest height in connec-
tion with the Queen Anne style of architecture, as elaborated in the present day.
The oriel windows of the Tudor, the ornamental gables and picturesque chimneys
of the Elizabethan, are all merged into it, and with such a profusion of carving as
to be unprecedented in any former age…
Walker is writing during the height of the High Victorian period when London
was a mass of building activity. Many architects were designing wonderfully
crafted brick façades, allowing master craftsmen the opportunity to display
their skills in a manner not truly seen, or indeed desired, since the late seven-
teenth century. Combined with the rapid developments in associated building
technology - such as the use of brick reinforcement - there was an unbridled
renaissance of gauged work.
This enthusiasm was fuelled by a conjunction of events such as the philosophy
of the Arts and Craft movement, dedicated and innovative architects, the rising
pride of city craftsmen and movements towards formal craft education, and
the entrepreneurial self-belief of the late Victorians for high standards and
