A S t r a t e g y f o r S u s t a i n a b l e M a n a g e m e n t

Introduction
Hampshire is not rich in natural building stone but
other materials won from the earth have served for
centuries as important building resources for walls,
roads, oors, daubs and mortars. Many historic, load-
bearing and self-supporting earth walls survive. They
contribute signicantly to the character of mainly
rural areas, principally as small houses, outbuildings
and the boundary walls lining town and village roads.
These historic earth structures are recognised as part
of the built vernacular heritage belonging to a type
and a given time that extends from East Cornwall
through Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
Earthen structures, made from mixtures of locally
dug soils and other natural additives,
are an important part of the national and
international heritage.
The earth structures of Hampshire contribute to the
unique local character of many villages,
particularly where they line roadways and
complement the colours of the natural
landscape. Many travelling through the
west of the county have commented
on the beauty of the soft white
chalk-cob boundary walls
with their thatch and
tile cappings.
The golden-coloured clay-mud or cob mixes
used in the New Forest are equally appealing for
the way they have been adapted for simple country
buildings, blending with the contours of the
countryside in a way no modern structures can.
New developments, intense weathering, neglect,
heavy trafc and inappropriate repairs all conspire to
threaten the long-term survival of these structures.
A strategy aimed at raising awareness of their value
and ways of protecting them has been created to
address these threats.
It was not until the autumn of
1977 that I visited the Test Valley
in Hampshire for the rst time. I
was struck by the beauty of the
river, its picturesque villages,
cottages, farmhouses and small
country houses with endless
miles of meandering, white
chalk walls with thatched or tiled
copings. It was in this delightful
part of rural England that I decided
to make my home and to research
the history of the local vernacular.
My interest in chalk buildings
led to visits to the New Forest
to examine other buildings built
of earth but based on clay, sand
and gravel. Geographically the
chalk and clay belts lie side by
side but the style and method of
building was different because of
the individual nature of the two
materials and the way the land
had been utilised. It soon became
apparent that many of the earth
buildings were in an appalling
condition and that they were
being demolished rather than
repaired. It became quite plain
that if the beauty of these two
lovely areas of Hampshire were
to be conserved, to delight my
grandchildren in the way they had
captivated me, then advice was
urgently needed.
Gordon T Pearson,
Preface to Conservation of Clay &
Chalk Buildings, 1992.
Contents
Page 2 Introduction
Page 4 Value of Earthen Heritage
Page 6 Cob Walling Characteristics
Page 7 Practical Conservation
Issues
Page 8 Action Plan
Page 11 Sources of Information
2 E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T
Above: King
Somborne, 18th C.
cob agricultural
building with cob
wall boundary
continuous with
the building line.
Cover photo:
Monxton Village
is cob-rich.
A Strategy for the Sustainable Management of Earth Structures
Earth building heritage is important world-wide.
The International Centre for Earth Construction
in Grenoble estimate that two-thirds of the worlds
population still live in earth-walled houses.
As part of the vernacular heritage, earth structures
are the fundamental expression of community
identity and its sense of place, and they
represent an evolutionary process of essential
change and continuous adaptation to social
and environmental constraints over time.
The survival of this tradition is threatened
world-wide by the forces of economic, cultural
and architectural homogenisation. How these
forces can be met is a fundamental problem
that must be addressed by
communities and also
by governments,
planners, architects,
conservationists and by
a multidisciplinary
group of specialists.
(International Committee
for Vernacular Architecture -
CIAV, 1996)
Unlike listed buildings of stone,
brick and timber-framing materials,
many earth structures have not been
singled out for special recognition and
protection. Small agricultural buildings and
boundary walls which help shape the character of
village conservation areas may go unnoticed and
become at risk if they are not listed or recorded in
plans or appraisals.

E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T 3
Historic Cob Structures in Hampshire
Right: Cob cottage,
Outwick, near Fordingbridge.
Some render is failing on front
of cottage.
(Hampshire
Photographic Project).
Crown Copyright 2004 HCC 076651
Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey
map with the permission of the controller
of Her Majestys Stationery Office.
Chalk and Clay
Clay Plateau
Coastline
Cliff Coastline
Enclosed Coastal Plain
Hangers on Greensand
Healthlands and Forest
Horticulture and Smallholdings
Mixed Farmland and Woodland
Open Arable
Open Arable on Clay
Open Arable on Greensand
Open Coastal Plain
Pasture on Clay
Pasture and woodland: Health Associated
Pasture: Hangers Associated
River Valley
Scarps: Downland
Scarps: Hangers
Urban Area
Key
Historic Cob Structures
Landscape Types
International & National
Serious interest in the UKs vernacular buildings
began as late as 1952 with the establishment of the
Vernacular Architecture Group. Pioneering work in
recording threatened small vernacular buildings,
which included earth structures, was carried
out in the 1960s by the Royal Commission
on Historical Monuments and resulted in
Eric Mercer's pivotal book English Vernacular
Houses in 1975. This important work marked a
change in the Commissions policy in favour of
thematic studies of lesser secular buildings. In
the 1980s many vernacular earth buildings were
identied, described and listed by the Department
of the Environment during the re-survey of parts
of the country.
In the past decade conservation work on earthen
buildings in the UK has been linked to that of
international committees who are committed to
their study and promotion as an important part
of architectural heritage. The Earth Structures
Committee of the International Council on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS/UK) was set up
as a forum in 1992 to strengthen the network of
those working in the eld and to link it to research
and information available through organisations
such as the International Centre for the Study of the
Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property
in Rome (ICCROM). Two Out of Earth conferences,
hosted by the University of Plymouth School of
Architecture in 1994 and in 2000 (Terra 2000),
have marked the high level of national interest.
The publication of Terra Britannica (2000)
identied, for the rst time, the range and
character of earthen structures and archaeological
earthworks across the regions.
Publications like Terra Britannica have improved
the opportunities available to academics and
conservationists by raising the prole of earthen
heritage as a subject worthy of scientic study. But
few academic institutions currently offer courses in
the conservation of earthen heritage, so knowledge
of the history, technology and methods of repair is
fragmented at national and international levels.
Regional
In the UK, regional groups have formed to raise
awareness of the importance of conserving earth
structures in East Anglia (EARTHA), East Midlands
(EMESS), the Harborough and District Earth Society
(HADES) and the Devon Earth Buildings Association
(DEBA). A Centre for Earthen Architecture has been
established at the University of Plymouths School
of Architecture, to promote the construction of
new sustainable buildings in earth and to conserve
historic earth buildings. The Devon Earth Buildings
Association is the oldest and largest regional
group, established in 1991 as a forum for discussing,
advising, training and organising seminars on earth
buildings. In the area of South Wiltshire, Hampshire
and Dorset there is as yet no organisation devoted
to the promotion of earthen heritage although
the counties have similar types of earthen
structures and common problems associated
with their conservation.
4 E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T
Above: Deep thatch
eaves protect
the rendered cob
walls and flint
plinth hence the
prescription for cob
needing a good hat
and a good pair of
boots. Longstock,
Test Valley.
Earthen Building Materials in the
Wessex Region
The geology of the chalk belt linking Wiltshire,
Dorset and Hampshire provides rich sources of soils
readily exploited for building. The upper chalk that
dominates the downlands is particularly suited to
crushing for use in chalk-walling construction. Chalk
block has been used in buildings across the south
for many centuries externally and internally. Though
rather soft, it is remarkably uniform in composition
and has a ne, even-textured quality which makes it
ideal for moulded work. As a structural material it is
commonly used in combination with int, brick and
other building stones.
Although chalk masonry is not the subject of this
strategy, its presence often indicates that chalk
cob may also be found locally.
In Wessex, chalk block and int was not always as
readily available as ground chalk, which was easier
to obtain and use locally. The chalk-walled structures
common to the area are products of its geology,
building traditions and the relatively high cost of
other manufactured or quarried materials, which
put them beyond the reach of farm workers and
the majority of the rural population.
The Map of Historic Cob Structures in Hampshire
shows the highest densities of cob structures in the
chalk and clay areas of north-west Hampshire and
pasture areas on the clay in the New Forest. This
mapped distribution has been studied and selected
areas have been surveyed. Several chalk walls in the
west Hampshire area, built in cob, were visited and
mapped by Pearson (Architectural Association, 1982)
from within a roughly 10-mile radius of the village of
Nether Wallop in the early 1980s. The outer eastern
limits of these types of chalk-cob walls were found as
far east as Overton and Twyford. The concentrations
of chalk walling vary, from villages like Kings
Somborne and the Wallops where they appear in
profusion to those of Crawley and Stockbridge
where only one example survives in each.
In north and south Hampshire the chalk is overlaid
with tertiary soils of gravels, sands, silts and clays.
These mixed soils contain both chalk and clay which
have been combined for use as the main ingredient
in the cob and chalk walling of small cottages, walls
and outbuildings. In the New Forest the heavy clay
soils were used in cob structures, using similar
construction methods as those used for chalk-
mud walls.
Some limited chalk-cob house building was carried
out in the experiments of the 1930s in reviving
cob building in villages such as Quarley. These
experiments were encouraged by the authors
Williams-Ellis and Eastwick-Fields as an alternative
to post-war building in modern materials. The revival
was not widespread but their book, Building in Cob,
Pise and Stabilised Earth, sought to convince
architects of the merits of building with earth.
The record of traditional knowledge on practical
techniques provided in the book has provided
inspiration and useful guidance for revivalists
and conservationists working today.
E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T 5
Left: New Forest cob
outbuilding show-
ing its true golden
colour derived from
local clays. Normally
this material would
be protected under
a thin lime render or
wash.
Cob-walling characteristics
The majority of rural cob and chalk-mud structures
date from the Brick Tax of 1784 up to the Rural
Workers Act of 1926, when town bye-laws were
brought in to improve living conditions.
Generally the styles and overall character
of these buildings did not vary greatly, as
the structural limitations of the material
determined their few, small openings, hipped
roofs and gable walls, and wall heights.
Chalk boundary walls are particularly valued
for absorbing the heat and protecting and
supporting fruit trees, and so were useful for
many of the large agricultural estates.
Cob structures are often associated with
thatch roong. A common Devonian
expression was that cob needed a good
hat and a good pair of boots to protect it.
Full gables in cob are unusual as they are
structurally weak. Upper oors are usually set
within attics and have small dormer windows.
As the walls depend on their thick mass to be
structurally sound, window openings are few and
small, and wall thicknesses are generally at least
750mm. Corners are often rounded, wall surfaces
are roughly textured and eaves are low. The base of
the walls is normally of int, brick, and/or limestone
to prevent walls becoming saturated. Cob boundary
walls are built using similar materials and general
rules, though they are thinner than walls for buildings
as they only need to support the wall top frame and
coping detail.
The principal materials were usually dug from the
site the building was to occupy. The mixtures were
of crushed chalk and/or clay, chopped straw, horse
hair and other binders and aggregates depending on
what was available locally at the time. The mix was
then trodden, sometimes using animals, to achieve
a pliable, sticky consistency. The site was prepared
by laying a foundation course of mortared int, brick
or rubble to a depth that depended on weathering
requirements. Clough Williams-Ellis records his
observations of what constitutes a good-quality
chalk mud as a conglomerate of small chalk knobs
cemented together by a matrix of plastic chalk and
straw, the whole forming as dense a mass
as possible.
There were two methods of construction: piled and
shuttered. In the piled method the mixture was
applied in lifts onto the underpin course, to begin to
form the walls in a series of stages or perches.
The piled method involved at least two men, with
one man slapping the mud into position and one
treading the mass down to a level surface in courses
from 18 inches (450mm) to 2 feet (600mm) high. The
walls were nished by removing the rough material
secreted between lifts. As the piled method was
slow to dry and involved some wastage of material
in the paring down of excess material, other quicker
methods were adopted. The shuttered method was
introduced around 1790 by Henry Holland, who
used it for the estate cottages of his workmen. The
shuttered method, also known as pise de terre or
rammed earth, was able to support loading more
quickly and proved to be more efcient. The soldiers
returning from the Napoleonic Wars in France had
seen rammed walls being constructed in rural areas
and by 1819 the method was known to be familiar to
builders in Hampshire. The mix was similar to that
used for the piling method but less water was needed
due to the packing system. The mix was rammed
down between wooden shutters which could simply
be dismantled and re-erected for the next section.
Spring and autumn were considered the best time
to construct new walls to avoid rapid drying in the
summer or freezing in winter.
Walls were traditionally protected with thin lime and
chalk-based renders, slurries and whitewashes. In
Hampshire coloured pigments were not normally
used and white remained the traditional nish.
Cement-based renders were recommended during
the brief revival of cob building in the 1920s, which
Williams-Ellis wrote about, though their use is no
longer considered good practice. Cement-based
renders are normally too dense and heavy for the
softer earth core materials, which they can quickly
detach from.
6 E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T
Right below:
Cob boundary
walls with
thatched walltops
are characteristic
of north west
Hampshire villages.
They may be
physically linked to
listed buildings
and form part of
the curtilage of the
property.
Above:
A well protected
chalk cob boundary
wall under a deep
thatch with old
cracks, nicely
stitched together
with recycled bricks.
Practical conservation issues
A considerable amount of practical conservation
work has been carried out on older cob structures in
the conservation areas of the county. Work relating
to surveys and assessments, grant-aided repairs by
county and district councils, listed-building casework
and the monitoring of boundary-wall failures have
built up a body of experience and skills in resolving
the range of problems presented in conserving
earth structures. The traditional knowledge of cob
building was largely unwritten until the publication of
Williams-Ellis book in 1916. Now, organisations such
as English Heritage, the Institute of Historic Building
Conservation, DEBA and Pearson have all published
guidance on appropriate repair techniques.
Specialist building suppliers in Hampshire will
provide technical advice and materials for earthen
repair work.
More remains to be done in the Wessex region
to consolidate and transfer existing knowledge
and experience from within this specialist area of
repair to those responsible for approving repairs
and maintaining earthen heritage and to those in
building professions, trades and training. Given the
vulnerability of earthen walls to excessively damp
conditions, ooding, neglect and poor repairs, this
dialogue and information sharing should be a high
priority. With the wetter winters and drier, hotter
summers that result from climate change, the
potential for adapting old earthen walls for more
extreme weather conditions needs to be explored.
The like-for-like conservation principle of repair
commonly used in conservation work is difcult
to achieve with earth-wall repairs as replacement
mixes will be hard to match with the original. The
differing proportions and character of the chalk
and clay in the aggregate can mean the mixture
varies in colour, degree of compaction and texture.
In addition, the use of other additives such as types
of lime and organic material such as straw is not
always traceable in historic mixes through analysis
E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T 7
Right: Heavy traffic on village roads can cause physical
damage and cracking from vibrations to cob walls,
(Monxton Traffic Group)
Left: This attractive outbuilding is protected by the deep thatch
eaves, though it is vulnerable from traffic impacts, Monxton.
Roadside cob wall
approaching crisis
due to neglect.
Breakdown of
wall-head protection
permitting saturation
of cob below.
Decay of cob behind
water - retaining
cement - based
render (now largely
failing)
Base of wall decaying
due to soil build up
covering plinth and
splash back from
passing vehicles.
8 E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T
New Forest
creamery.
Before and after
reconstruction,
using cob blocks
made from the
collapsed
material.
(Bob Bennett,
The Lime Centre.)
testing. Old renders and slurries can also be difcult
to match as various recipes were used for whiting
and washing cob walls. Todays aesthetics differ from
earlier periods and rural villages would look very ill
kept and shoddy by current standards. Lime-based
renders are more appropriate today than the clay-
based mud renders of the past, as they look white,
are relatively easy to apply and are permeable.
Keeping water from damaging earth walls is one of
the key conservation issues relating to cob structures.
Wall tops and roofs must be kept watertight, with
a sufciently deep overhang to prevent water
penetrating the tops and upper areas of walls. Wide
eave overhangs designed to keep water off the walls
should not be altered. Masonry plinths at the base of
walls must be kept free of soils banked around them
and invasive vegetation like ivy which can prevent
them drying out. The ground at the base of cob walls
can undermine the structure if it is laid with hard
materials that cause splashback onto the lower zones
of the wall which take maximum loads. Road trafc
can splash water onto untreated cob walls adjacent
to the roadside and this can lead to erosion of lower
walls. Vibrations caused by heavy trafc and goods
vehicles, such as farm vehicles in rural areas, can
also be a major cause of cracking in cob structures
adjacent to main roads.

The neglect and/or poor repair of cob boundary walls
can very easily cause a sudden collapse if a sharp
frost follows a particularly wet period in which a wall
has become saturated. The use of cement-based
renders, paints and other non-permeable nishes
that trap moisture in the core of walls can exacerbate
a problem in excessively damp walls and lead to
render and structural failures. A series of cob-wall
collapses was recorded in the Test Valley district
during the particularly wet winter of 2001.
Where a structure is listed, statutory Lists of
Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest
may not identify cob-walling material, where it
forms the core of walls that may be rendered,
painted or brick-faced. In Hampshire 350 listed earth
structures have been identied and mapped from
list descriptions alone, though there may be many
more. A more accurate and comprehensive picture
of the actual number of earth structures can only
be obtained from information collected by properly
informed eld work and case studies.
Practical conservation issues may arise out
of decisions made before the cultural value of
vernacular buildings was recognised.
Unlike listed buildings of stone, brick and timber-
framing materials, many earth structures have
not been singled out for special recognition and
protection. Earthen boundary walls and outbuildings
not listed in their own right have been excluded
from surveys and may not be as well maintained
as part of the curtilage of listed buildings. Small
agricultural buildings and boundary walls, which
give village conservation areas their character, may
easily be demolished and go unnoticed if they are not
recorded in plans or appraisals. The local planning
authority should always be consulted on the need
for Conservation Area consent for demolishing such
structures, before any work takes place.
Action Plan
Aim
If traditional earthen heritage is to survive in
the county for the use and enjoyment of future
generations, it must be managed in a more
sustainable way. More discussion and accessible
information is needed to raise awareness among
owners, their agents, and the building trades of
the value of retaining and maintaining the special
characteristics of these traditional structures.
Without a strategy for this area and a fuller
appreciation of the contribution these structures
make to the vernacular built heritage, they will
continue to be damaged or destroyed through
neglect or misinformed actions.
The strategy for addressing the conservation issues
related to cob structures is intended to encourage all
those interested to identify and record them, to carry out
appropriate repairs and maintenance, to organise and
share the knowledge gained from experience, and to
ensure training in traditional building skills is part
of locally accessible, accredited training programmes.
These action points have been developed
as a result of a series of meetings with the
conservation officers who are responsible for the
areas with the highest number of cob buildings
in the county, from Basingstoke and Deane, New
Forest and the Test Valley, and with Hampshire
Buildings Preservation Trust representatives.
The responses to a recent survey of earth
buildings groups, colleges and universities,
other cob-rich counties and interested
professionals with experience outside
Hampshire have also been included.
A. Mapping and recording
Objective
To identify the location of earthen buildings and
boundary walls and record their character, condition
and value within the context of their setting. This work
is the first step if structures are to be recognised,
protected and properly maintained. The information
can enable planning authorities and landholders to
plan for the conservation of earthen structures. There
are many ways of making the information relevant
through land-management plans, such as agri-
environment schemes, management plans for Areas
of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Conservation Area
Appraisals and Village Design Statements.
This information can be obtained from an
experienced contractor or building professional
but homeowners can also begin to understand the
nature of earth materials by looking at structures in
the immediate area or village themselves. Boundary
walls and outbuildings that have not been rendered
can provide examples of the types of cob mixes
used locally. Listed-building descriptions may
include references to materials, and any building
work involving repairs or alterations to walls may
expose materials used behind renders. Surveys for
valuation and insurance purposes should identify the
construction materials. Local planning authorities
may also have reports and listed building/planning
files on cob structures that have been subject to
planning and/or grant applications.
Action on mapping and recording
To collect and collate information on the
location, character and condition of cob
structures from various sources to enable
further study and inform technical guidance and
policy development. Hampshire County Council
maintains an Archaeology and Historic Building
Record and this may be a suitable repository for
the information collected.
B. Monitoring and maintenance
of structures at risk
Objective
To develop, promote and encourage good practice,
guidance and procedures for monitoring and surveying
cob structures at risk; and to ensure that unforeseen
collapses are prevented or responded to, when they
occur, wherever possible. To encourage emergency
recording among a network of owners, authorities and
agencies responsible for responding wherever cob
structural collapses occur.
The condition of earth structures is an ideal
barometer of changes in climate patterns as they
can be susceptible to extreme weather events.
Cob structures and, in particular, boundary walls
are especially at risk from a combination of poor
weather, inappropriate repairs and physical impacts.
When weak areas of walls are exposed to wet, windy
weather and sharp winter frosts, sudden collapses
often occur and can be costly and difcult to repair.
Good practice in repairing collapsed walls depends
on an analysis of materials and site conditions. To
avoid these collapses earth walls need to be regularly
monitored and maintained and, when they occur,
responded to accordingly.
Action on monitoring and emergency
responses
To guide and encourage local authority ofcers
from planning and highway departments, who
are working in the eld, to record collapsed earth
boundary walls and report on the circumstance of
the collapse. To develop and promote a standard
format for reporting on failures, neglected
structures and total collapses to enable a
record to be established.

E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T 9
Cob agricultural
building, Hatchet
Pond, Beaulieu 1952.
(Hampshire
Photographic
Project).
C. Guidance on the nature,
characteristics and repair of
earth buildings
Objective
To prepare good-practice guidance to raise awareness
of the architectural and historical value of earth
structures, to assist in identifying/recording their
special character and vulnerabilities and ways of
repairing and maintaining them in accordance with
appropriate methods of repair.
Many failures and cob-wall collapses can be avoided
where the materials are identied and understood
well in advance of work; and where regular
interventions are made to ensure a maintenance
regime is in place. Long-term conservation can only
be sustained if there is an awareness of the special
requirements of the earth materials and if specialist
materials and skilled operatives are available, given
the vulnerability of earth materials to extreme weather
exposure.
Action on guidance
To develop and publish guidance for property
owners in consultation with those responsible
for the maintenance of cob structures, on their
nature and characteristics and on appropriate
methods for surveying, repairing and maintaining
them.
D. Problem-sharing, learning
and promoting
Objective
To foster the sharing of knowledge, of evidence-
based research and case studies relating to earthen
architecture characteristic of Hampshire and the
neighbouring counties of Wiltshire and Dorset.
In the recent survey interested professionals
responded by noting that, unlike other cob areas
such as East Anglia and Devon, there was a gap in
the Wessex region and no earth buildings group had
been established to report on common problems,
current trends or areas of research and training.
Action
To found and establish an interest group of
stakeholders to communicate and promote
interest in and care for the conservation of
earth structures within the Wessex region.

E. Training support
Objective
To enhance and develop access to opportunities
for training in the maintenance and repair of earth
buildings, and whenever possible to ensure that
specialist repair skills are not lost and the support
for maintaining standards of historic building repair
continues to improve.

A recent study by the Heritage Lottery Fund revealed
that employers were concerned about the apparent
shortage of specialist skills needed by the heritage
sector generally. The research revealed that there is
a genuine national shortage of people with specialist
skills where the use of traditional materials is dying
out or where the training opportunities are few and
far between or where the demand for skilled people
had outstripped the supply. The research examined
topics related to earth building such as skills in the
use of thatching, lime mortars and masonry and
found that there is considerable cause for concern
because poor investment in training, few new
apprentices and the undervaluing of building craft
skills are putting the fabric of the heritage at risk.
Action on training initiatives
To work with stakeholders in the traditional
building skills sector to ensure that opportunities
for training are accessible in Hampshire through
training organisations that are developing and
delivering accredited courses on the repair of
earth buildings characteristic of the county.
10 E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T
Further Reading
Ashurst, John, Mortars, Plasters and Renders
in Conservation, 2nd Ed.,
Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors
Association, 2002.
Available from Karin Butti, Thomas Ford & Partners,
177 Kirkdale, Sydenham, London SE27 4QH.
Clough Williams-Ellis, Building in Cob, Pise
and Stabilized Earth, re-printed., Donhead
Publishing, Shaftesbury, Dorset, 1999.
Devon Earth Buildings Group, Appropriate
Plasters, Renders and Finishes for Cob and
Random Stone Walls in Devon, 2002.
Available from Historic Buildings Adviser, Devon
County Council Environment, County Hall, Topsham
Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4QW.
English Heritage, Practical Building
Conservation V. 2 Brick, Terra Cotta & Earth,
Aldershott, Gower Technical Press, 1988.
Holmes, Stafford and Michael Wingate,
Building With Lime, Intermediate Technology
Publication, 1998.
Available from The Lime Centre, (see opposite).
ICOMOs UK, Terra Britannica, a celebration of
earth structures in Great Britain and Ireland,
ICOMOS UK/English Heritage, 2000.
Available to purchase from English Heritage.
Innes, Trevor and Arun Sonni, House in Time,
1650, Innes and Soni Publications, 1998.
Available for reference at Hampshire County Council,
Environment Department, The Castle, Winchester.
Mercer, Eric, English Vernacular Houses, Royal
Commission on Historical Monuments, 1975.

Pearson, Gordon T., Conservation of Clay
& Chalk Buildings, Wimbledon, Donhead,
Publishing, 1992.
Available from Donhead Publishing by tel:
(01747) 828422 or [email protected].
Institute of Historic Building Conservation,
Robert Nother,
The Repair of Earth Walled Buildings,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 2000.
Available from IHBC Technical
Committee by tel.(10935) 462648 or
[email protected]. or www.ihbc.org.uk
Materials Supply,
and Advisory
Services
Bursledon Brickworks Trading Ltd./The
Hampshire Building Preservation Trust
Coal Park Lane, Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7GW
Tel./Fax (01489) 576248

The Lime Centre, Long Barn, Morestead,
Winchester, S021 ILZ
Tel. (01962) 713636
E-mail [email protected]
Website www.thelimecentre.co.uk
Cathedral Communications, The Building
Conservation Directory 2004
Tisbury, Wiltshire, SP3 6HA
Tel: (01747) 871717
E-mail [email protected]
Website www.buildingconservation.com
Practical and
Academic Training
Bursledon Brickworks (see above)
Short day course can be arranged for CPD.
Centre for Earthen Architecture, School of
Architecture,
University of Plymouth,
Notte Street, Plymouth PL1 2AR
Tel: (01752) 233608
Centre for Sustainable Heritage, The Bartlett
School of Graduate Studies
UCL Faculty of the Built Environment, Torrington
Place Site, Gower Street, London
WCIE 6BT
Tel: (0)20 7679 1665
[email protected]
The Lime Centre (see above)
Offers has short day or half day courses at least once
monthly.
Weald and Downland Museum, Singleton,
West Sussex, PO18 0EU
Day courses.
Tel: (01243) 811464
E-mail [email protected]

West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex
PO18 0QZ
Building Conservation Masterclasses
Tel: (01243) 811301
[email protected]

E A R T H S T R U C T U R E S - A S T R A T E G Y F O R S U S T A I N A B L E M A N A G E M E N T 11
Back cover photo: Cob walls were traditionally used to enclose kitchen
gardens as in this Winchester example. In his 1813 Agricultural Report
Vancouver, wrote about the chalk area of Hampshire with walls
preserving "the young fruit and blossoms from severity of the frost,
and...affording a more certain crop of fruit which ripens as early, and is
equally well flavoured as that (grown) upon stone or brick walls".
A S t r a t e g y f o r S u s t a i n a b l e M a n a g e m e n t i n H a m p s h i r e
Written by Margo Teasdale with
Landscape Planning & Heritage
Environment Department
DESIGN 04 3725 CORPORATE GRAPHICS TEAM
01962 813803
PRINTED BY HAMPSHIRE PRINTING SERVICES
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