wattle-daub-msg

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wattle-daub-msg - 11/8/14

Medieval Wattle and Daub construction.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: shafer at ferhino.dfrc.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer)

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Organization: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards CA

Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 18:52:24 GMT

On Tue, 9 Jul 1996 08:05:56 GMT, carrie at ultranet.com (Labyrinth's End) said:

C> Houses ( farmer's, peasant and that type) were once made of waddle

C> and daub. Waddle being woven basketstyle to form tha main wall

C> structures.

Er, it's wattle, not waddle. Wattle is poles interwoven with slender

branches, withes, or reeds. It sticks in my mind that withes from

pollarded willows were the preferred material, but I can't easily say

where I picked this up.

C> Does anyone know what daub was composed of? It must

C> have been some kind of earthen matter that hardened to form a

C> covering for the waddle (think the origins of TUdor style) Any help

C> would be gretaly appreciated...

Daub is clay, usually obtained from rivers and streams. Adobe, being

bricks of clay, is not named from a common root, despite the apparent

similarity. Daub is from Middle English and adobe is from Arabic.

Since daub was easy softened by rain, the next step in the evolution

of construction was to cover the daub, while soft, with pebbles or

small rocks. Whitewashing the daub was another technique, but it

couldn't just be picked up for free. Stucco, being more permanent,

was a logical replacement of daub but it couldn't be obtained as

easily or as cheaply. However, stucco studded with small rocks,

called "pebble and dash" is still used in the UK as a finish, so

people obviously liked the style.

I might mention also that my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

has an entry for "wattle", "daub", and "wattle and daub", defining the

last as "a framework of woven rods and twigs covered and plastered

with clay and used in building construction". The date given for the

first written use of the term is 1808, while the date of "daub" is

14th century and of "wattle" is before the 12th century.

A desk dictionary can be a very useful tool for answering questions.

Using one might be a good first resort.

Mary Shafer NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

SR-71 Flying Qualities Lead Engineer Of course I don't speak for NASA

shafer at ferhino.dfrc.nasa.gov DoD #362 KotFR

URL http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html

From: zaphod at zoology.ubc.ca (Lance R. Bailey)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: 9 Jul 1996 21:36:27 GMT

Organization: The University of British Columbia

Mary Shafer (shafer at ferhino.dfrc.nasa.gov) wrote:

> On Tue, 9 Jul 1996 08:05:56 GMT, carrie at ultranet.com (Labyrinth's End) said:

> C> Houses ( farmer's, peasant and that type) were once made of waddle

> C> and daub. Waddle being woven basketstyle to form tha main wall

> C> structures.

> Er, it's wattle, not waddle. Wattle is poles interwoven with slender

> branches, withes, or reeds. It sticks in my mind that withes from

I was just about to start on wattle walls for a kitchen area (lord

knows what for the roof) but was warned that the walls, when dry, will

be a horrible fire hazard. I was planning on using 1/2 - 3/4 inch

popular (the clinton war site is lousy with popular). I can't see that

as being more of a risk than say, a canvas tent.

> easily or as cheaply. However, stucco studded with small rocks,

> called "pebble and dash" is still used in the UK as a finish, so

> people obviously liked the style.

My last house (century house in london ontario) was pebble and dash.

It's a nice finish.

devin o raudh

Barony of Lions Gate, An Tir

From: david.razler at postoffice.worldnet.att.net (David M. Razler)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: Tue, 09 Jul 1996 22:38:35 GMT

carrie at ultranet.com (Labyrinth's End) wrote:

>Here's a query for all you wise folk on the web...

>Houses ( farmer's, peasant and that type) were once made of waddle and daub.

>Waddle being woven basketstyle to form tha main wall structures. Does anyone

>know what daub was composed of? It must have been some kind of earthen matter

>that hardened to form a covering for the waddle (think the origins of TUdor

>style) Any help would be gretaly appreciated...

>Carrie

>carrie at ultranet.com

Anything you can "daub" on the wattle <watael, watul OE, origin obscure> to

keep out the cold or wet or heat. Clay, mud, whatever is available locally.

Maybe some dung, if you can afford to waste fertilizer/fuel for stickiness.

Maybe some lime if you live on top of it and it powders cheaply and you have a

basic understanding that it hardens well. We are talking subsistance level

construction, which, I am sure, evolved along the lines of "appropriate

technology" in this case, technology refined to use best whatever material one

could appropriate locally.

I would not be surprised if every neighborhood had its own traditional mixture

of the local clay, silt, sand. lime, whatever could be got for the cost of

labor.

A,T/dmr

David M. Razler

david.razler at worldnet.att.net

From: mfaul at netscape.com (Mike Faul)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Wattle & Daub (Was Re: Waddle & daub query)

Date: 9 Jul 1996 16:24:54 GMT

Organization: Netscape Communications Corp.

>Houses ( farmer's, peasant and that type) were once made of waddle and daub.

>Waddle being woven basketstyle to form tha main wall structures. Does anyone

>know what daub was composed of? It must have been some kind of earthen matter

>that hardened to form a covering for the waddle (think the origins of Tudor

>style) Any help would be gretaly appreciated...

>Carrie

>carrie at ultranet.com

Just to clarify, It's Wattle not Waddle.

Daub is a particular type of clay found on the bottom of most rivers in

Ireland anyway. The Daub I have used building forts as a child came from

the Moy river in Co. Sligo, and was anything from red, gray/blue to

brown in color. The same consistancy as potters clay.

Wattle the flexible twigs used to weave with are typically Saille rods

(Willow) the same rods that are used to make creel or for thatching

roofs. The Willow is only allowed to grow shoots which are then cut at

the stump and grow long slender branches each year.

If you are ever in Ireland be sure to visit the Craganowen historical

site near Limerick/Shannon. It has some very fine examples of ring fort,

keep and lake forts. Wattle & daub construction, etc.

Fionn

From: Dunmail <D.J.Hodkinson at shef.ac.uk>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 12:24:37 +0100

Organization: Animal & Plant Science (bo), University of Sheffield , UK

David M. Razler wrote:

> Anything you can "daub" on the wattle <watael, watul OE, origin obscure> to

> keep out the cold or wet or heat. Clay, mud, whatever is available locally.

> Maybe some dung, if you can afford to waste fertilizer/fuel for stickiness.

Mud on its own will fall off very quickly - you need to put something in

to bind it. Old straw/horse manure do the job admirably. As for the

waste in using dung - you could always put the old daub on the fields

when it fell off.

Dunmail

From: David Corliss <corlisd at aa.wl.com>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 10:02:57 -0400

Organization: Retro Team, Parke-Davis Ann Arbor

Alexander the Traveler / David M. Razler wrote:

> Anything you can "daub" on the wattle <watael, watul OE, origin obscure> to

> keep out the cold or wet or heat. Clay, mud, whatever is available locally.

> Maybe some dung, if you can afford to waste fertilizer/fuel for stickiness.

> Maybe some lime if you live on top of it and it powders cheaply and you have a

> basic understanding that it hardens well.

Lime is a processed material made from limestione: the stone is crushed and roasted to produce lime. Thus, it is not an obvious and cheap building material, even if you live on limestone or it's calcium carbonate relations chalk and gypsum.

Beorthwine

From: route66 at iserv.net (Gary J. Wolverton)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 20:33:18 GMT

Organization: Iserv.net, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Well, in a couple of books in my library, mention is made to the

"Waddle & Daub" huts or structures. They pretty much describe "Daub"

as a mixture of mud, clay, cow or sheep (or the like) dung, and pretty

much anything else that starts out mucky and hardens when left in the

open air and sun. ;}~ If you're interested in the books, one is called

"Life in a Medieval Castle" and the other is " A World Lit Only By

Fire" in the latter book, only the first chapter is devoted to the

Dark Ages while the second and third chapters deal with Ren and

Magellan respectively.

Hope this helps.

From: ejpiii at delphi.com

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: Thu, 11 Jul 96 21:54:26 -0500

Labyrinth's End <carrie at ultranet.com> writes:

>Waddle being woven basketstyle to form tha main wall structures. Does anyone

>know what daub was composed of? It must have been some kind of earthen matter

Greetings from Eddward,

As others here have pointed out, it was pretty much whatever you could daub on.

In some of the examples I have seen in Europe (twas used widely elsewhere) I

thought it looked like cement, or concrete. Both of these materials were known

to the Romans (the Pantheon in Rome is concrete for instance), but the art of

making it faded in and out throughout the period. Another possibility is that

it also looked quite a bit like adobe, which is traditionally finished with

a lime mortar to stop water. One writer mentioned that lime was pretty hard to

make, but there are period references I have read that specifically mentioned

many limestone buildings being destroyed to make lime, so somebody must have

figured out the lime kiln early on.

I like industrial archaology, so if anyone can shed more light on this I for one

would be interested.

Eddward

From: coineaucgh at aol.com (Coineaucgh)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Waddle & daub query

Date: 12 Jul 1996 19:18:53 -0400

I do volunteer work at the Jamestown Settlement. When we daub the houses

we use clay, straw and sand. I have seen the attempts at other materials

and this works very well. it is more durable than cement over wattle.

The Museum of Frontier Culture in Staunton, VA uses the same mixture. I

am sorry but I was not in on the research for the mixture so I cannot give

documentation.

coineaucgh

From: greeder at concentric.net

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: wattle and daub

Date: 18 Jul 1996 03:51:23 GMT

In <4s96a4$l4 at joni.loop.net>, gswitzer at loop.com writes:

>Wasn't there an issue of the Complete Anacronist series with instructions on

>how to do your own wattle and daub construction?

> Ishido Matsukage

CA #12 has a chapter entitled "Your own Cruck Beam Wattle

and Daub Thatched Hovel"

From: andrew norris <andrewnorris at hi.htnet.hr>

Date: April 10, 2006 3:46:20 AM CDT

To: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>

Subject: Re: wattle and dawb mixture

Dear Stefan,

I like the idea of writing an article of my experiences of trying to

create wattle and daub panels for our barn, which will eventually become a

painting/sculpture studio, however, this is a long term project and

probably won't start until next year as there are a few other priorities to

work on. Despite this I shall be making small trials and finding good

recipes in the meantime and will keep good notes for any future text.

It is possible that there is a Shire publication on wattle and daub but I

did not come across it. However, the most relevant publication on the

subject was a pamphlet called, 'Panel infillings to timber framed buildings'

published by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. It is a

mere 12 pages but contains a wealth of info for repair methods, restoration

or reconstruction with a number annotated drawings, recipes for lime

plasters as well as daub. It is a great publication from which to begin an

investigation into this type of construction. Copies are available from The

SPAB, 37 Spital Square, London, E1 6DY, phone 0207 377 1644. I think it

cost me about 3 pounds.

The other two books, The Natural Plaster Book (New Society Publishers)

and Building with cob (Green books) , I have just read the first few

chapters of each but they are both nicely written, especially the second,

and they give one a great feeling of empowerment and inspiration. I am

already thinking of a small cob shelter at the end of the garden, near the

future vegetable plot....but that really is for a few years hence.

Kind regards

Andrew

To: Authentic_SCA at yahoogroups.com

Subject: Fw: Wattle Fences

Posted by: "Jack Graham" friarjak at yahoo.com friarjak

Date: Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:54 pm (PDT)

<<< Does anyone know what they make these dang things out of for the

reconstructed sites and such? >>>

It is my impression that withies were grown in a coppice where the stumps were regularly trimmed so they would sucker and grow more withies for cooping, wattling, and the like.See http://www.coppice.org.uk/background.htm for details or the following for generality:

with·y (w, wth)

adj.

1. Made of or as flexible as withes; tough.

2. Wiry and agile.

n. pl. with·ies

1. A rope or band made of withes.

a. A long flexible twig, as that of an osier.

b. A tree or shrub having such twigs.

________________________________

[withe + -y. N., from Middle English withye, willow branch, from Old English wthig, willow; see wei- in Indo-European roots.]

The

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Yours Faithfully,

Friar Jak