Context 169 - September 2021

8 C O N T E X T 1 6 9 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 FromThe Pattern of English Building by Alec Clifton-Taylor (4th edition, 1987) The stone was… quite easy to work…This rendered the many and beautiful refinements which are associated with the Cotswold style of building. The late retention of well-moulded mullioned windows; the elaborate labels or dripstones; dropped down a few inches at each end of a window, and then neatly returned…; the gracefully finished gable copings; the frequent appearance in gables of dated stones, oval or circular, with initials elegantly lettered; the abundance of ornamental finials, sometimes carrying balls, sometimes more fanciful forms, as for instance those which suggest flames; the lofty, well-designed chimney stacks crowned with generous cornices: these are all characteristic of the Cotswolds. The most striking feature of the domestic style of this part of England is, however, the great place occupied by the gable. Where other regions used dormer windows, either standing on the wall or set back on the roof, the Cotswold builders carried up the main wall to form a gable, often all but touching its neighbours on either side, and with a ridge as high, or nearly as high, as the main ridge of the roof. And below the gables, especially in moderately sized or small houses, run those ranges of rather low windows which are another attractive feature of Cotswold buildings. The formula for a Cotswold house may appear to be rather simple. Indeed, say Fox and Raglan ( Monmouthshire Houses , Part III, 1954), ‘the formal and parallel verticalities of the Cotswold tradition seem, after a time, dull, because they are so obvious.’ ‘But,’ they are careful to add, ‘when they are flouted or ignored, …the result is disastrous.’ The Cotswold builders knew this, perhaps for the most part instinctively. The style in fact avoids monotony, partly because it was possible, even with no structural features other than gables, chimney stacks and windows, to play a large number of variations on the theme, and partly because the quality of the stone enabled the builders to indulge, every now and then, in a feature of greater extravagance which furnished a note of variety, and perhaps a new focal point. It might just be the curving of a gable to support a vase-shaped finial or to give space for a modest coat of arms; on the other hand, it might be a sumptuous entrance-doorway, or a rich bay-window, or something still more spectacular. broader European context.We may find out in the next few years if this historic example has any lessons for the intended government reinvention of English planning. Staying with Belgium, there is an insightful examination of tile vaults used in the 20th century, when there was an interest in a variety of architectural styles, ranging from historicist designs to the search for new geometric forms that were probably introduced from France. A number of patents and various innovations were governed by a constant principle to build light vaults, laying very thin bricks flat, using plaster mortar and avoiding the use of centering as far as possible. The author discusses various differences in geometry, bond and the shape and dimensions of the bricks, and the presence or absence of an upper layer of mortar over the extrados. Hundreds of these masonry tile vaults were built in France and Belgium between 1900 and 1940. After the huge expansion in the use of this technique, interest had evaporated by the middle of the century. The last examples were built in Belgium around 1950. A paper by Donatella Fiorani and Thomas Boothby examines openings in the masonry walls in early Christian and medieval Roman churches, using eight examples. The authors then look at a further 25 churches, ranging from the 4th to 13th centuries studying the opening (pier ratio) and span (thickness of the arch ratio). This shows surprising interrelationships in the development of construction know-how, through changes (and constants) in architectural principles and building types. The authors note the combination of different technological solutions that allowed the builders to reach the structural limits of this single building element in order to satisfy architectural requirements, while reconciling the economic availability of the materials and skills on hand at the time. Balancing of some competing considerations never changes. Bob Kindred MBE