582

THEORY OF ARCIIITECTUIIE, Book 11.

containing stones of the same thickness. The masonry is then laid in liorizontal courses, but
not alw.iys confined to the same tliickness. 'J'he uncoursed rubble wall is formed by
laying the stones in tlie wall as tiiey c ime to hand, without gauging or sorting, being
))reparL'd only by knocking oti" the sharp angles with the thick end of the scabbling
hanuner.
19'i26. Ai)parently, wherever there was any difficulty in obtaining stone, the mediaeval
builders emplovcd the worst of all methods of construction in walling, viz., concrete or
riibble-work l)etween the two faces of squared stone. Jn the early period of media-val art,
flint or rough rubble, with "sliort and long work" to the quoins, seems to have been very
general ; this
"
short and long work
"
was also used in faced walls
;
in both cases the short
work consists of stone u))on its bed, and alternates with the long work or stone upriglit
:
the short work ought to serve as liond tlu-ouglioiit the walls. In the
1
'ith century
tiie use of rubble in conjunction witli worked sione became freijiient. The chief defect,
frequently considered one of the merits, of this system, consists in the omis-iion of sufficient
bond both in piers and walls
;
the occurrence of joints in angles is too frequent ; in fact,
any expedient seemed better than the trouble of making a back-joint.
I9'22c. Kentish IlAcsroNE. This material, now so extensively employed for mediaeval
work in the metropolis and suburbs, is never used intn-naUy, as it .sweu/s, that is, the con-
densed moisture from the atmosphere is not absorbed, and will show itself even through two
coats of plastering, //as.' oc/e sfo?ie, however, which is the sandstone separating the beds of
the ragstone, the sand being sufficiently agglutinated to allow of its being raised in blocks,
must never be used extenialli/. It is easily worked, and makes a good lining for ragstone
walls, as it does not sweat. It should be roughly squared, for if not done, the crumbling
nature of the stone would endanger the security of the work, should it be exposed to any
luiequal pressure : it must not be jjlaced where it would be exposed to very great ])ressure,
as in arches, jambs, &c. Hassock may l)e procured in London at from (is. to 75. per cord
(3
feet cube), in roughly stjuared pieces; while rough rag is about 5s. per ton, and rag
headers about 1 2s. 6d. ]>er ton.
192_'J. Sunk and mouliied work in so hard a material is to be avoided, and so much
wrought surface would cause decay. In using ragstone ashlar, it must be l.iid upon its na-
tural bed, otherwise rai)id decay will almost certainly follow, arising from the thinness of the
strata, for blocks of a large size can seldom be entirely freed from hassock
;
and even wliat
ajjpears to the eye as blue stone, retains for a considerable distance inward the jierishmg
nature of its enveloping crust. A block of ragstone, if the face be worked, will present in
d:mip weather an appearance i)recisely similar to the heart and sap of timber. In the cnse
of cojiings, &c., where one bed is exposed, the stone siiould he
skiffled
(or /niohlilcd) as nuicli
as possible from the upper side, so as to expose only the soundest portion of the stone to
the action of tiie atmosphere. In some situations, as mullions, door and window jamhs,
an unsightly ajjpearance would lie produced by too exact an attention to the beds of the
stone, as the ashlar is generally too small to range with more than one course of headers.
In these cases the old masons seem to have dejiarted from their usual rule, and to have set
the blocks on end, so as to embrace two or three ourses
;
but as the depth of the block re-
quired to work an ordinary jamb or mullion is not very great, it is not difficult to get the
whole thickness required out of the heart of the stone.
1922e. Stone of the smaller layings are generally worked into headers; it is common to
work one side of the stone to a rough face with parallel sides, without paying much atten-
tion to the beds and joints, whicli often recede at an acute angle with the f;ice, so as to
bring the stones, when laid, tcj a closer joint. Such stones, however, mu^t be pro])erly
pinned in behind, and carefully bonded with the work at back. Headers are generally
knocked out to six, seven, eight, or nine inch gauge for the height ; the length and tail
being determined by the size of the stone : on the face they do not vary much from the
square form. Formerly lieadcrs were set on their natural bed, therefore it is not unusual
to find stones in an old wall entirely gone from this cause.
1922y. In the Whitelands bridge bed, a very free working stone of a bluish colour can
be got 12 feet long with certainty, and the Horsebridge bed yields a good stone to a
length of 15 feet. Tiie white rag, the lowest of the beds in the quarry, tumbles to pieces
on exposure to the air (Whichcord, Kentish Bag&tone, 1846).
1922p. In its mechanical properties, ragstone possesses some of the qualities of granite,
though in an inferior degree. In respect to resistance to pressure, it stands next to granite
in the list of British stones
;
but when loaded for a transverse strain, the numerous vents
to which even the best layings are liable, renders it imtnistworihy for lintels, or in a
suspended position, without much precaution. In the former case of lintels and architraves,
three stones, arch jointed, gives the recjuisite security.
1922A. WniNSTONE, a material, in one form or another, found almost over all Scotland,
makes a very durable arch for bridge woik, when well built with good mortar, the stone
being in its natiu-e weather proof. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, whinstone arches
have been erected since about 1770, the greatest sj)an lieing about 60 feet The Messrs.