A history of building materials in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxon

[@Mrcool12684]

I have been looking for history of building, building material, tools, and techniques for a long time! Thank you very much for this video. wish there were more vids on this kind of stuff.

[@fayeyother7336]

Oh I’m so glad I found you. Thank you. I so love this architecture.

[@thomairs]

We're glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the lovely comment!

[@mwolf768]

What a fascinating and full on information video. Thank you for making it Worked/working on a few historic buildings in Dorchester and it is interesting to see how the place grow and change over the years, decade, century.

[@thomairs]

Thank you for taking the time to leave a lovely comment. It's much appreciated!

[@tonygraham5332]

A well-structured review. Thank you. Good to hear a mention regarding conservation of wattle and daub and how to keep cob dry.

[@thomairs]

Thank you!

[@dougscrubjay3939]

Fascinating. We see evolution of local materials here as well. Then cheap transportation and fashion pop up. Thanks for your videos.

[@thomairs]

Thank for the lovely comment

[@samb3031]

More like this please! Very interesting.

[@thomairs]

Thanks for your comment. There's certainly one more coming in the next couple of months on the Gilbert Scott-designed village hall in Dorchester.

[@SweetJungThang]

What an amazing professor you are! I watch and then am simply filled with questions. Why is it called "rotten" row? Are the buildings rotting away there, or is there some other meaning of the word? Is cob a special type of earth, or is it blended with anything (grasses, twigs, clay) for residual strength? Why was there a switch between tension and arch bracing -- was it due to an advance in understanding of stress analysis, lack of mature timbers of sufficient size, or a change in available building materials? What is it like to live in an ancient building? (Low ceilings? uneven floors? good insulation or are they damp and chilly?) Who lived in these buildings then and who lives in them now? How does one work with such ancient buildings to install electricity, gas lines, internet cables, plumbing etc? Were jetties really for architectural strength or were they a way to get more living space without paying additional ground rent as in London? I'm sure I have many others, but I'll finish by saying how much I appreciate this clear and engaging tutorial which also serves in a time of Covid as a delightful mini-vacation. Thank you, Professor Airs! (By the way, please don't feel obligated to reply to my questions - perhaps they can serve to prompt new topics for your next program, which I eagerly anticipate.)

[@thomairs]

Thank you so much for the lovely comment. It means a lot! Malcolm is more than happy to try to help offer some answers and he sent me the following: Rotten Row is probably a reference to the soft or loose material that formed the surface of the lane. It was certainly not a reflection of the state of the houses. Cob was usually composed of the sub-soil (not the top soil)dug from the site of the building mixed with an aggregate such as sand, pebbles or road shavings, with dung and straw as a binder and a carefully added amount of water before being thoroughly mixed together often using cattle with their cloven hoofs to tread and turn the mixture. This was then laid as 'lifts' about 2ft high and trodden down by men walking backwards along the length of the wall. Each lift took two or three days to dry before another could be added. I should have said more about this in the film. The change in bracing was probably due to a better understanding of function and a more efficient use of timber. Historic buildings are highly adaptable, usually comfortable and can easily take modern technology. It just requires sensitivity to their intrinsic character. I am sure that jetties started as a structural solution for storeyed buildings and then became a fashionable device. They give only a slight increase in floor space but that was no doubt a factor in the narrow streets of thriving towns like York and London where they were often three storeys high.

[@Mrcool12684]

This guys is freakn bad ass! Not sure if the Professor has ever been called that but he is def an OG bad ass!

[@thomairs]

I don’t think he has either! 😂 But thank you for the kind words - I’ll pass them on to the bad ass himself 😄

[@Mrcool12684]

@@thomairs thank you! tell him its a term of endearment here in the US! But on a more serious note, I love seeing history on Great Britain because I get to see how my ancestors/ old family lived. Were from some part of Wales and Morpeth Northumberland. I'm pretty sure we moved to Morpeth from Wales for coal. But not exactly positive. Anyways, thanks and keep doing awesome stuff!

[@richardwingfield3501]

Thank you for that, it is really well produced and full of interesting information.

[@thomairs]

Thank you! It was a pleasure to create and lovely comments like yours are hugely appreciated!

[@elizabethgardner5207]

Thank you. Very enlightening.

[@thesolitarycyclist9005]

What's going on with all this blacking of timbers in Dorchester? Was there a job lot of tar going around? Totally unnecessary for preservation of the timbers and aesthetically a big black mark on what is otherwise a remarkably well preserved village.