Product Description

Buildings made of unfired earth are of great antiquity; in Britain they continued to be built until the middle of the nineteenth century. Consequently much of the traditional architecture that gives each region its distinctive character is of these materials, although they have different names in different places: 'clay lump', and 'clay bat' in East Anglia, 'witchert' in Buckinghamshire, 'mud' in the east Midlands, 'clom' in Wales, 'clay dabbin' in Cumbria and 'clay dab' in Scotland. In this book John McCann describes the various processes of building with earth, quotes contemporary descriptions from past centuries, examines the regional patterns and illustrates standing buildings of clay and cob in many parts of Britain. These buildings have many desirable qualities. No fuel is consumed in making them, they are durable, they are warm in winter and cool in summer, and they retain a local character which modern industrial products do not have.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #697541 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-04
• Released on: 2008-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

About the Author
For twenty-five years John McCann photographed modern architecture for architects and the architectural journals. Since 1975 he has studied the traditional buildings of the English country and their historic origins. As a mature student he read for an honours degree in history at King's College, London University. He has lectured and written extensively about vernacular architecture and has tutored numerous courses for Cambridge University and the Workers' Educatonal Association.

Customer Reviews

Why Cob?
Okay, so if you're like me, you've been looking at alternate ways to own a home and have probably stumbled upon this little book, probably because you've heard somewhere else about building with earth and maybe even specifically cob. This quest probably generated all kinds of questions for you, such as what is cob and why do they call it that? If you have asked those questions, then you want this book. This book primarily concerns cob and clay structures in the British Isles which makes it also a very handy little book for students of that regions architectural styles. It would also seem ideal for anyone taking a walking tour of the more rural parts of Englnad Scotland and Wales as it readily shows the different styles of earth building prominent in those regions as well as goes into detail about technique and history. The author takes a cursory close look at some restorations and examines some buildings that have been left in disrepair since they were vacated. It is here that I found the greatest value in the book as someone currently ingterested in working with the material. Here is several hundred years of historical evidence as to what this material is really capable of. This is not some guy telling you about the durability of this construction system. This is what has happened to cob homes over years of use. Overall it is great confidence booster and testimonial to the material itself, proving just how beautiful and durable it is.

Further on the above
Until I read this book I didn't realise the versatility and durability of clay construction. Importantly Johnn McCann investigates the Revival of clay construction which will be a great help for those looking to build with clay. It also helped me to understand the construction and design choices of an historic cob cottage in my care.