Tricksy buggers, those Georgians …
Look carefully at the photo above. The stonework Hugh is measuring is from the re-facing work to the east elevation carried out by Francis Stone and mason James Watson in 1827.
The stonework directly behind Hugh is from Stone and Watson's repairs to a section of the wall which Soane had destroyed to erect his fantasy castle gaol.
The section of weathered stonework to the lower left is original facing from the William Rufus / Henry the First 1094 to 1121 royal palace build and was still in good enough condition to be left in situ and not messed with.
Part of the east façade of Norwich Castle, courtesy Old Dive.
It's amazing what you don't notice when you're not looking for it … Such as how every bay of every elevation of Norwich Castle is either very subtly or totally outrageously different to all the others (trust me on this, I've measured 'em all). Or that Stone and Watson were sneaky little buggers …
I imagine the conversation going much like this:
Stone: "Well, master mason; how do you suggest we repair this wall with the budget we've got?"
Watson: "In my opinion, sir, we can repair it with proper ashlar or … we can cheat."
And cheat they did!
At Hugh's prompting I had a good rummage in the castle archives and discovered the etching above, the only known representation we have of the re-facing works in progress. It shows Salvin and Watson's workmen re-facing in lifts of around six feet.
Here is what Hugh discovered: the ashlar joints in the re-facing work are totally fake. Take a look at the above … you can make out the tiny thin joints between the actual facing slabs which are very large. The "jointing" for the fake ashlar is formed by raking out lines in the stone facing and filling them with dark-coloured mortar.
Continuing Hugh's investigations after his sad passing, I hi-jacked a cherry picker and poked around in some otherwise inaccessible places. I discovered that the Stone / Watson / Salvin facings were extremely thin and backed with cheap packer stones and in places even brickwork. This method allowed the re-facing to be completed extremely speedily and I dare say some of the savings got stuffed into the bulging pockets of the sneaky Georgian cheats.
Amazingly, no-one at the castle had any idea that this method was used, even though they see the stonework every day, so we had to re-map the elevations to show the actual joints and the fake joints. It makes our own work in restoring the royal palace quite a bit easier so three cheers for those tricksy little buggers.
EXCEPT …
Whether 'twas Salvin or whether 'twas Watson I know not, which is a shame as I don't know whose grave to shit on … SOMEbody decided to replace the elegant, thirteen-merlon-a-side Norman battlements with a disastrously inappropriate new design. The new battlements are way too large, have only nine merlons per side and so do not match the arcaded bays below, and they project out in a gross manner never used by Norman masons but popular these days with Disney World. Much to my regret we are not allowed to change them back. Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn!
Next time: Victorian variations.
Sources:
The Annual Register: A View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year: Edmund Burke (ed) and successors: 1758 to Present
Norfolk Museums Service and the Norfolk Archæological Society
East Anglian Archæology Vol. 132: Norwich Castle: Excavations and Historical Survey: 1978-1988: Part II: c.1345 to Modern: Elizabeth Shepherd-Popescu: 2009
The Printed Plans of Norwich 1558-1840, A Carto-Bibliography: Raymond Frostick: 2002
Norwich Cathedral - Church, City and Diocese: 1096 - 1996: Various Eds. 1996
Norwich Since 1550: ed: Carole Rawcliffe & Richard Wilson: 2004
Norwich - The Growth of a City: Barbara Green & Rachel M R Young: Norfolk Museums Service: 1981
Norwich Houses Before 1700: Vernacular Architecture, Vol 14: 1983
3 comments:
A merlon is the sticky-uppy part of the battlement, yes? I see what you mean. You win some, you lose some. The discovery of the fake ashlar counts as a win, I think.
Dive, I hope you're archiving these posts. They're a treasure for Norwich and all of England.
The fact that nobody at the castle even knew about the fake ashlar was the most amazing thing about it, Petrea. Everyone came out and looked and pointed and ooohed and took pictures. It was very amusing.
The original talks are on the office servers and occasionally get dragged out for newbies. They're a learning tool for the fresh out of college mob so will remain there long after I'm gone.
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