Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 22
A drawing of views
from above, in front
and below, of the early
Tudor chimney brick
from Bridewell Palace,
London, 1515-23.
(Courtesy of Terence
Paul Smith)
stretcher or the cut-splayed header? The answer may not be just one of aesthet-
ics, it might also lie in how bricks of this period were moulded, as described
above. The excessive moisture content in the 'slop-moulding' process meant
once the green brick was de-moulded it could settle downwards into its bed,
giving a slightly swollen or 'bloated' face. This, the hewer would have sought
to dress to provide flat faces approximately square to each other. Wight (1972,
101) incorrectly states that 'Tudor brick was much harder than modern brick'.
It is noticeable that most hewn bricks often tend towards orange in colour, sim-
ply because these would have been the selected baked bricks, sound in quality,
yet possessing an easily worked body; ideal for cutting, carving, and abrading.
It would, however, be a mistake to believe that only orange coloured bricks
were, and are, capable of this work, the nature of the brickearth and clay can
