Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
in Flanders, especially 'decorated', and demanded great skill in the produc-
tion of its enrichments of arches, tracery, columns, spiral staircases, and vault-
ing, so evident in the skilled work of European masons of the medieval period.
The wealthy being able to finance well-patronised guilds of masons and brick-
layers led them, in turn, to become prestigious repositories of knowledge and
craftsmanship. The prolific use of brick for enrichments, normally executed
by masons in stone, inevitably led to the unique development and refinement
of skills in the post-fired working and laying of bricks. Putting bricklayers and
masons together led to a cross-fertilisation of knowledge and skills from which
the former was the major beneficiary.
The huge Cloth Hall, built between 1280 and 1350, is a mainly brick build-
ing of orange bricks laid in English bond with stone enrichments. Significantly
there is clear evidence on the brick faces of post-fired working. The parallel
comb-like marks, running vertically up the ashlared wall face, would have been
made by a mason's tool such as a drag, which can also be seen on all the adja-
cent dressed stone enrichments. As these bridge the joints, the dressings was
actioned as-laid or
in situ
by the bricklayer/masons.
Similar marks are also evident on the brickwork of the vaulted corridors at the
rear of the Cloth Hall. This brickwork, of 1350, is of smaller, orange-red bricks
set with standard-sized joints. The doorways have ordered moulded reveals,
bridged by Tudor-styled depressed arches. The cutting of the voussoirs, particu-
larly for the tight curves to either side of the arch with joints not exceeding
6mm, planned so that they radiated through both orders, echo again the
knowledge and skill founded on sound masonry practices. The
in situ
finish-
ing, with comb-like marks, is worthy of note. On the reveals the marks run
horizontally, but occasionally they are vertical as the craftsmen 'humoured' the
shape of the profiles for a straight and plumb line to the eye. The brickwork
of this building is, in all respects, a long way ahead of what was being achieved
in England at this time. Certainly the practice of finishing the brick facework
as a stonemason his stone was not common to English brickwork, although
abrasive marks are often to be seen on cut and rubbed mouldings originally
intended to be rendered to resemble stone (acting also as a key) up until the
seventeenth century.
The Palace of the Gruuthuisse (1425) is constructed in the Gothic style,
richly ornamented with beautiful brick tracery or, as the Flemish term it, 'maas-
werk', across the façade with occasional use of stone as a corbel to support
the enrichments or terminal features and to cope the gables. The post-fired
shaping of the bricks to templets in the manner of a stonemason is known as
'bewerkte baksteenen' or 'worked-on bricks'. Some of this tracery was given a
coat of lime and stone dust stucco to imitate the natural stone it was replacing.
The Hanse House (1478) is a wonderful example of neatly laid brickwork
with mortar joints much thinner than contemporary English brickwork of this
