Context 169 - September 2021

6 C O N T E X T 1 6 9 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 structures often now lack the architectural features such as overhanging roofs that originally protected and preserved walls and floors, so they are susceptible to damage and collapse from aggressive environmental forces. The paper examines replacement mortars for repointing and resetting masonry at archaeological and historic sites in Arizona. It is more widely useful in summarising the optimal properties of earthen mortars, and the extensive testing and impact of the addition of an acrylic emulsion polymer. This additive has been used for over 40 years in the south-west USA, but until now there has been insufficient data to substantiate anecdotal evidence about the value of its use over time. Few quantitative studies of amended earthen mortars have been published, so this article helpfully brings the latest tests together. The paper is useful in explaining the implications of using such modern materials to enhance the performance of traditional mortars. Although the dismantling and relocation of buildings, destroying the heritage context, is generally discouraged, some valuable interiors find new homes in a museum context. The paper by Harold Kalman explains how a spectacular 19th-century wooden, fan-vaulted ceiling disassembled from a convent chapel in Ottawa (in anticipation of imminent demolition) was reassembled within the National Gallery of Canada. The author provides some valuable insights into lessons learnt from this process to guide future projects. He notes that when a historic interior is dismantled, even under pressure of time, the work must be done by conservators and certainly not (as he puts it) ‘by a construction crew using chainsaws’. Every piece should be catalogued and labelled. The conservation design should address not only the final appearance and the visitor experience but also future maintenance and housekeeping, with consideration given to enabling mundane chores such as replacing lightbulbs, cleaning the far sides of windows and enabling minor repairs. Space should be left around and above the interior to provide proper access for such tasks. The fourth article also has lessons for application elsewhere, where the question of how multiple owners and occupiers and other stakeholders, each with different agendas and perceptions must come together to agree on a major refurbishment. The building in question here is an iconic Peruvian modernist insurance building of 1953–55, situated within the Lima World Heritage Site. The baseline for clear evidence-based research, documentation and analysis as the basis for model, sustainable solutions is clearly explained in this widely applicable paper. The Construction Historian I remarked in my first column of this year ( Context 167, March 2021) on the high production values of the recently established magazine The Construction Historian . Issue 7, Summer 2021, includes the second part of Richard Barwick’s summary history of the London contractors Trollope and Colls (following on from Issue 5). Barwick takes the story from 1903 to the present day and provides a useful list of some of the key contracts completed in the City of London up to 1930. Alexandra Stevenson’s article notes the perceived absence of women employed in construction, particularly those working in a profession where domination of male manual labour is always assumed. In 2019 women working in construction in the UK comprised only 12.5 per cent of those working in the industry, and those working on site as scaffolders, bricklayers and labourers were, and are, virtually imperceptible. Yet women have always been very much present in these trades. The article presents new evidence of the role of women in construction in the English royal palaces in the London area during the early modern period. Despite the many constraints and taboos historically linked to women in the workplace and them carrying out physical work in particular, historical documentary research reveals a significant female presence in the construction trades. The author highlights that the common language used when discussing trade, industry, and architecture is masculine, and the idea, for example, that women entered guilds and could take on apprentices, or even run a building business themselves, is often given only fleeting attention. It is not now refuted that women worked in these trades, but Stevenson argues that history has been written predominantly by men and viewed from their perspective. Until recently little effort had been made to bring to light female participation, an omission that this article helps to correct and counteract. Another well-illustrated short article, by John Gilbert entitled ‘Two Cities: a query about the variations in lintels between Glasgow and Edinburgh’ is an excellent example of how local architectural distinctiveness can be brought sharply in to focus. The Victorian TheVictorian (No 67, July 2021) focuses on the physical changes now manifest in two historic churches. Joe O’Donnell, the VicSoc director, remarks that churches are facing a crisis of falling congregations