Newton, Devon (1813)

Shapter, Thomas, M.D. The climate of the south of Devon; and its influence upon health: […].. London: John Churchill, 1842. Chapter III. pp. 221 - 222.HOUSES. The houses of this district are built of the conglomerate and trap rocks already described, brick, and what is provincially termed "cob." In their construction and relations, the first three present nothing remarkable; the last, however, is peculiar to the west of England, and may therefore be described.The walls are composed of earth and straw, mixed up with water, like mortar, and then well beaten and trodden together. The mixture is always laid upon a foundation of stonework, as it is necessary to keep it dry; hence the Devonshire adage, that "all cob wants is a good hat and a good pair of shoes." The cob mixture is laid on in layers generally, from two to four feet in depth; it is essential that each separate layer should be allowed some weeks to settle, and it is then pared perpendicularly even, before another is added. When the successive layers form walls of sufficient height they are surmounted by thatch. Some months after the walls are quite finished, and supposed to be dry, they are plastered, white-washed, or rough cast, which provincially is called slap-dash. This mode of building is much cheaper than stone or brick, and if kept dry is very durable. Cob houses are warm in winter, cool in summer, and in every respect as comfortable as other buildings: they form picturesque objects in the landscapes of Devon, grown over as they generally are by myrtle and other flowers.[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]

S.g.etch

200x307mm

S38. PROUT, Samuel: PICTURESQUE DELINEATIONS IN THE COUNTIES OF DEVON AND CORNWALL, IMITATED FROM THE ORIGINAL STUDIES.

Thatched cottage, possibly not Newton Abbot